Michael Nobbs

Tag: Ephemera

Scraps and fragments of everyday life, both analogue and digital. Little things collected, noticed, saved or revisited along the way.

  • Up and down

    Yesterday, I surprised myself by making a video for Patreon.

    Today, drawing myself from the video feels like enough.

    An open homemade pocket sketchbook rests on the keyboard of a laptop, on a bed covered with a red and cream checked duvet. The sketchbook contains a black ink self-portrait of Michael wearing round glasses and a striped hat, surrounded by handwritten reflections about unexpectedly having enough energy to film a video the previous day. On the laptop screen, Michael appears in a paused Patreon vlog titled “Vlog: Checking in and a tiny unboxing”, wearing the same hat and glasses, with drawings covering the wall behind him. A black pen lies beside the sketchbook on the laptop. The scene is warmly lit in the early morning.
    A black ink drawing across two pages of a homemade pocket sketchbook, resting on the illuminated keyboard of a laptop. The drawing is a loose self-portrait of Michael wearing round glasses and a striped hat, with sleepy, half-closed eyes and a beard. Handwritten notes surround the portrait, including “5:50am”, “Watching the video that I surprised myself by making yesterday” and, in a speech bubble, “I wasn't expecting to be awake or up to filming.” The date, 20-10-26, is written in the bottom left corner. The sketchbook's central fold runs through the middle of the face.

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  • Mostly being still

    In the midst of this ME crash, I’m mostly being quite still, but yesterday evening George drove me into town for some fish and chips on the seafront. I’m beyond delighted to have discovered that I can eat a few chips without my blood sugar levels spiking!

    Afterwards, I took a few steps from the car to be buffeted by the wind and watch the sun set.

    Lovely.

    A loose black ink drawing across two pages of an open pocket sketchbook. On the left is the side of a parked car, with its doors, windows and wheel arch outlined in bold, wandering lines. On the right is a large, expressive profile of a person looking towards the car. The drawing has an overlapping, almost abstract quality. Handwritten text in the bottom right reads, “I eat some of George’s chips and he has the batter from my fish.” The date, 9-10-26, appears underneath. The sketchbook rests on a red and white patterned surface.
    A loose black ink drawing across two pages of an open pocket sketchbook, showing the artist's reflection in the passenger-side wing mirror of a car as he sits looking out towards the sea. His face, wearing glasses and a striped beanie, is framed by the sweeping, curved outline of the mirror, with parts of the car loosely sketched around it. Across the top, handwritten text reads, “Watching the big sea after fish and chips.” Further handwritten notes down the right-hand side describe eating fish and chips in the car at South Beach and wondering whether this might become a new habit. The drawing is dated 9-10-26.

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  • Not sleeping and getting past my buyer’s remorse

    I slept for a lot of today and now it’s bedtime I can’t get to sleep.

    Instead, I’ve been watching this video of Musa Mayer reading from the book I bought on an impulse this morning. Now I’m excited about its arrival (hopefully tomorrow).

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  • Instagram and drawing at 4.00 am

    Screenshot of an Instagram post showing an open handwritten journal page dated 22 September 1970. The page is filled with thick black handwritten notes about paintings, travelling, poems, photographs and everyday life. The caption identifies the book as Life with P.: Journals, 1966–1976 by Musa McKim Guston.
    Close-up of a self-portrait drawn in red Neocolor II crayon across an open pocket sketchbook. The face fills most of the page, with large round glasses, one eye clearly visible, a bald head, moustache and beard suggested with loose, waxy marks. Areas of dense red crayon frame parts of the face. At the bottom, the drawing is dated 23-9-26 and accompanied by the handwritten note: “4.00 am I’m not sure if this the start of the day or an interlude between sleeps.”
    Early-morning photograph of a small self-portrait drawing resting on a red-and-white patterned sketchbook on a bed. The portrait is drawn in soft red Neocolor II crayon across an open pocket sketchbook, showing a bald man with large round glasses, moustache and beard. Above it is a round mirror reflecting the artist’s face and yellow phone. A mug of tea, a red crayon and a dark pencil sit nearby. Beneath the portrait is the handwritten note: “4.00 am I’m not sure if this the start of the day or an interlude between sleeps.”

    I’m not sure if this is the start of the day or just an interlude between sleeps, so I’m hedging my bets and drinking decaffeinated tea.

    Yesterday Cathryn described Neocolor IIs as “friendly”. I feel the need for some friendliness in the very dark morning — it feels especially dark this morning; I wonder where the moon is in its cycle — so I’m drawing myself with a red crayon and enjoying its soft waxiness.

    This book caught my eye on Instagram. Do I really need more artists’ journals to read? I have Keith Vaughan and Derek Jarman waiting for me by my bed. Tove Jansson’s letters have been calling to me. But this does look interesting: paintings, reproduced journal pages and scraps of notes. Right up my street.

    I think I might just accept that the day has begun and make a pot of real tea…

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