Dusty Deen animates his sketchbooks as a means of both archiving and bringing to life. “My sketchbook not only contains my art but also acts as a chronicle of my life,” he told us. “It contains notes about my family life, projects I’m working on, doodles, thoughts, ideas, everything. A lot of my animation work is done on paper, usually on a small scale, and I was looking for a way to preserve it, so it didn’t just sit on a shelf.

“I decided to cut and paste my animation into my sketchbook to further enhance the record and create a visual experience that could be matched with the art already in the book. This is the second sketchbook/film in this series. This installment includes audio captured from restaurants and coffee shops, captured while I sketched in the book.” The ambient noise adds an element of viewing to the piece, almost as if those in the background might be out, taking in the artwork somewhere.

We asked Deen about any challenges he encountered while making the short and he replied, “Drawing people without them noticing you. There are a lot of drawings of folks from my people watching endeavors in this one, and that is always a challenge.

“Other than that, just releasing my sketchbook to the world. As I mentioned there is a lot of personal drawings and information in these and even though most of the info gets doodled-over it’s still a little unnerving to put out such a personal, rough, and unplanned piece of my life.”

Next up for the animator are a couple of new music videos he is directing/animating, as well as an animated short film he is working on called “No Good Deeds” that should be out by the end of the year…”And, of course, Volume 3 of my sketchbook project.”

For more on the piece check out the images below: