Carnet de gratitude : August 2026 sketchbook

Where am I when I draw?

Physically, I am here, at my desk, making decisions about line, colour, composition, and what will remain outside the frame. But mentally, I am travelling back to a day that has already been followed by several others. I am trying to find what is still there: not only what happened, but what I noticed, what I felt, what stayed with me.

And perhaps the question is not only where I am, but when. The day I am drawing belongs to the past, the drawing is being made in the present, and yet it is already becoming something that will belong to the future. In between, several days have passed, and I am no longer quite the same person who lived the moment I am trying to remember.

This changes the nature of the drawing. I am not simply recording the past. I am looking at it from the present, with everything that has happened in between. Memory has already done some of its work: some things have disappeared, others have become more vivid. What I draw is therefore not exactly the day I lived, but what remains of that day in me when I return to it.

I draw to be in the present, from the past, for someone who will be me in the future.

And once a drawing is finished, it enters that future. It becomes part of an ever-growing collection of traces. This makes me wonder what will happen to these notebooks one day. How should they be preserved and archived? Could they have an ethnographic value, as a record of ordinary life — of the objects, habits, places, people, animals and little rituals that surrounded me?

But perhaps their most important subject is not my life, but what makes me.
Unlike a photograph, which records what was in front of the camera, or a diary, which records what I chose to write, these drawings also record what I chose to notice. What I consider worth remembering. The way I transform it, simplify it, frame it and give it meaning.

Page after page, these choices accumulate. And perhaps, after all, the notebooks are becoming something more than an archive of my days: they are a portrait of who I am, made in another medium. A slow, imperfect, and revealing kind of dissection of the self.

If you want to know more about my Gratitude sketchbook practice, I answered an interview for Domestika's blog at the end of 2024. https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/13539-stig-legrand-s-journey-turning-daily-gratitude-into-illustrated-masterpieces

This project is published monthly and you can access the archives beginning in November 2021 from the Projects section on my Profile.

Sketchbook : Talens, Art Creation, 9x14cm, colour Fresh Mint
Fineliners : UniPin in Dark Grey, Light Grey, Black, size range from 0.03 to 0.5 - Colour Fineliners : Sakura Pigment
Brush Pens : Water-based Tombows AB1, Kuretake Art & Graphic Twin, Koi by Sakura, Pentel Brush Sign Pens, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist
Watercolor crayons, Luminance pencils box and Derwent Graphitint pencils

Saturday, I slept a little longer, then listened to “Soon it will be cold enough” by Emancipator. Could it have been becasue we were moving out of the heatwave ? For the brunch, I enjoyed a mini version of "Caprice des Dieux", and industrial cheese that is nevertheless very lovely and addictive. Then I watched a documentary about Comics author Mattt Konture. It's ripe with interesting publishing facts from my favorite L'Association, and with a soundtrack by Mattt's band Courge, it is full of fun and punk energy.

Clarence Young shared a text that ended on "Life is jazz" and it stayed in a corner of my head. It colored my day with a blue note and a free interpretation. Then after preparing our ramen bowls, I watched a movie that fascinated me "Le Théorème de Marguerite": A brilliant young mathematician risks her academic future to pursue a proof of the elusive Goldbach Conjecture, forcing her to rethink both mathematics and her own life.
I enjoyed myself so much that I continued discussing further with ChatGPT about Grothendiek and structures, relations, languages... This all led me into Thaumazein again, a sense of wonder at systems of thought.

We weren't out of the heatwave after all : 37° !
I began the illustrated book "Voyages en paréidolie" and it was vastly hypnotic. Tanuki insisted on reading it with me and she helped with her furry paw.
I drew listening to GONG recent album "Bright Spirit". I was a little shy of the new Gong without Daevid Allen, but I actually enjoyed very much the new band with Kavus Torabi.
And to tie it all together, it was the day after Steve Hillage's birthday, so I sent him a little belated word. What a musician, I love his sound so much.

This tuesday, I had listened so much to GONG's Bright Spirit album that I could sing Stars in Heaven while drawing.
I felt reckless in the heat and began my day with usual iced-coffee with Yuzu, but this time, I dunk my lemon-ginger sherbet ice in there. It was delicious !
Hinata came back from her promenade bleeding at the neck ! We wiped her down and I disinfected her wound with Antisept. She must have been into a cat fight ! She didn't seem to hurt.
Then I discussed a bit about what I would like for my upcoming birthday : a ceiling fan for our bedroom !

Wednesday, I dressed all in red, and ate red food like watermelon and tchoutchouka, but nothing prevented me from falling asleep on the couch. When I woke up, the first thing I saw was a post about otters and it reminded me of a bar I used to go, LES LOUTRES... a long time ago.
Did you know that otters have a little fold under their arm, that they use as a pocket for their favourite stone ?
Also, we did skewers on the barbecue and listened to Die Antwoord new album Zama Zama.

Some nice things on that Thursday :
- my friend Deer Bartok and her daughter went to a super cool Street Art show in Paris and brought back loads of photos.
- I spent the afternoon publishing the month of July on Domestika.
- I made a large summer pasta salad with all the trimmings
- I took a fresh shower after this hot day

Friday, we had a shrimp breakfast shared with the Potichats, but husband frightened me when he suddenly said they were spoiled ! He tasted a few and didn't like them. We had already eaten ours, cats and I, but luckily nobody got sick at all. It was probably huband who had a condition that played on his tastebuds. Then I went to my podologist and she renewed my feet, checked them thoroughly as I have diabetes and prononced them Baby feet !
Then back home, I watched Drag Race France 4 on replay and found out my favorite Queen had been discarded... Everything Fluffy Bidule touched became ART as can be summarized by her incarnation of Max Ernst "The Angel of the Hearth or The Triumph of Surrealism", a costume that will remain LE-GEN-DAIRE <3

Not much sleep this Saturday, but many dreams ! My comic book by Mattt Konture "Les Contures" arrived and it was even much better that I had hoped. Photos of my friend from Florida, Gwendolyn, who grows wonderful hibiscuses on her lanai, inspired me to draw flowers. And I made nice burgers for dinner.

Not enough sleep again on Sunday, but Bright Spirit in the bathroom restored my energy <3
Because there are 4 burger buns in a pack and we are just 2, I make little cold sandwiches with the leftovers the next morning : ham, egg, lettuce, avocado, tzatziki, mayonnaise. Yummy !
Then when Kurumi rolled around on the armchair, I took a bunch of photos and it was perfect material to try the superposition drawings I would like to develop. I love Leo Forest wild cats superpositions ! This was a first little step in that direction.

Another hot Monday that found Nori sleeping on the side of the bathtub for freshness... I slept a WEAK numer of hours according to my Apple Watch and I can believe that. Listening to IDLES in the bathroom was the cure after letting Nori out.
For the brunch : melon and Kefor mixex with ice cold water helped too.
Husband brought back a tiny fig from our tree that looked ripe but sadly, there was only dryness inside. Trees and plants hurt in this unusual extreme weather. I made a nice dinner anyway, with trout and japanese rice sprinkled with Furikake and spinack spiked with ginger and a little fresh mint sauce.

Tuesday, after a watermelon and basil stracciatella brunch, I called and called the pharmacy at the end of the street to check if they had received the Solar Eclipse Glasses... and by mid-afernoon I got lucky ! Also some mosquito repulsive lotion arrived in the mail and it was so so so necessary as we had been devoured by the TIGER mosquitoes.

Even if it was still to HOT for comfortable life, the point of Wednesday was the Solar Eclipse !
We began watching it from our garden and the shadow started gnawing at the sun from the right side and rapidly progressed upwards.
When it became impossible to follow it from our garden, we moved to our neighbours terrasse and stayed there to admire until the end.
Tracklist for the day : Zeit, cosmic album by Tangerine Dream and Echolalia, experimental DJ set and party, performed in Iceland during the eclipse by Björk, Arca, Ronja and Sideproject.

What can I say...? It was TOO HOT. We reached 40° in the garden.
My music for the day was Nightmares on Wax Vs Adrian Sherwood “In A Space Outta Dub”.
When I woke up from the heat induced siesta, I saw photos of darling Diego digging under the plants on my friend Deer Bartok's terrasse. Then Kurumi who was asleep on top of a tall cupboard rolled over and fell, but luckily without damage.
Can you imagine that Miruku did the same trick a few hours later ?
I had a delicious dinner of cold pasta with peanut satay sauce and a melted mochi for dessert LOL.
There weren't any actual tentacles anywhere besides the record's cover but it crept all over my illustration.

Friday ? Nope Caturday ! The Potichats made me laugh despite the heatwave and the fast that Hinata didn't come back from her promenade at the usual hour, so we were worried (she showed up later and just fine). I listened to Emancipator's album "Baralku".
Diego went on his first holidays, with his mummy Deer Bartok on the island of Noirmoutier.

A few hours more sleep on Saturday and I woke up refreshed despite the heatwave.
My choice for music was System 7 "Flower of Life", can't beat Steve Hillage to lift my spirits with his strings.
I saw a very large and beautiful shell in the plate of my friend Sibylline currently holidaying in Japan and could help drawing it...
My friend Deer Bartok bought a bottle of Smoos, a Génépi liqueur mousse that I'm more than curious about <3
and with all this, I learned how to draw a Flower of Life pattern for this page.

Unlike Diego with his cool new harness, I stayed in pyjamas all day and fell asleep again and again everywhere.
Still I managed to cook stuffed eggplants à la Sicilienne for dinner.

Monday, I made a pile of wraps for brunch and the dessert one was super yummy with strawberry and pistachio.
I finished an online puzzle with this big moon and crane... Then I saw a night photo by Deer Bartok in Noirmoutiers and the two pictures aggregated in palette and composition <3

Tuesday, I was wondering when our midday TV show would return from their summer break and in fact, it had returned last Sunday ! I watched on replay and felt sad and a little bitter that the champion who had been playing for the longest sprint ever, lovely, funny and kind Vincent had lost when we weren't watching live...
Miruku found an empty paper bag from Amazon somewhere in the house and made it his favourite home.
Perhaps it was the bag containing the lovely, colourful dishes I had ordered from Amazon... LOL. They were inaugurated this evening with roast chicken thighs served with potatoes, tomatoes and onions.

On Wednesday morning, I collected a tiny urine sample in a little pot to take to the pharmacy. I was slightly embarrassed having to explain my urinary troubles to a young man at the counter, but he turned out to be very professional and put me at ease. 😆💛
On the way home, I stopped at Picard and treated myself to a few tapas from their Bodega collection.
Back at Maison Legrand, Pascal had just started opening the box of my new BOKU toilet, so he installed it for me right away. Very happy to have brand-new equipment in the loo! 💦

Thursday, a day for Potichat grooming, Airfryer galore and a failed Amazon delivery for the little veterinarian grade shearer I had ordered.
Why ? Because we both fell asleep on the delivery hour !
Do you know you can expand prawn crackers in the Airfyer without any oil ? Yes you can !

On Friday, I clearly overdid it: I went to bed at 8 a.m. No wonder my sleep score was VERY LOW! And no wonder I woke up with a thigh cramp triggered by simply tensing my legs for a second…

Luckily, it was cooler, and after a brunch with pain aux raisins, we were wide awake when the delivery driver called to bring us our new Aesculap Isis veterinary trimmer. We were very happy to finally have it!

I then spent a few hours sorting out some retirement paperwork. When I finally looked up, I spotted a beautiful pastel passion flower and photos of Diego on holiday, looking very comfortable in a vintage armchair.

Saturday, I dressed for the first time in my new black and white dress that has a Japanese style and synchronicity had it that I saw a video of an elegant Oisan walking slowly on her very high wooden platform shoes.
Meanwhile, husband was shopping at Grand Frais so I stored fruits and vegetables for a while.
But the crisis came at night! I was quietly drawing when all hell broke loose: Hinata started jumping against the grate and attacking the Potichats! It was a visit from Nagisa that had triggered it all, and we had to chase him away with a water gun amid much agitation.

On Sunday, I learned that Noël Godin, the famous “pie thrower” and master of pastry attacks, had died.
I had always been very fond of this wonderfully subversive man. I even once wrote a review of Grabuge!, a book featuring Noël Godin and other delightful subversives.
Once, I got caught up in one of his attacks by pure chance at the 2002 Paris Book Fair. I was at Vincent Ravalec’s stand, in the middle of a signing session with drawings and coloured pencils, when I spotted a pie on the table next to us — and recognized Le Gloupier, Noël Godin himself. I was already delighted by the encounter when Jean-Pierre Chevènement, the politician, walked past with his bodyguards. Everything happened very quickly — although I did manage to take a photo! — and Chevènement was pied.

His bodyguards knocked Noël Godin onto the table, right in the middle of my books, creating quite a mess. And just a little further down the aisle, Sister Emmanuelle and her followers were calling for an end to all this violence… 😳

Monday was my dear friend Valérie Tong Cuong's birthday <3 And it was also the last day of Deer Bartok's holiday on Noirmoutier with Laura and Diego.
I made my final choice of the ceiling fan, and when I began drawing Hinata jumped on the table and insisted to be cuddled in the middle of art supplies and her favourite 4 colours pen.

Tuesday was a day of hunt for Hinata as she had found a tiny mouse in a garden. She stayed out longer than expected !
For the first episode of Koh Lanta All-Star 2026, we had homemade burgers and pommes allumettes the very thin fries from the Airfryer.

Wednesday was the last day of me being 61. Early evening, I learned that Tim Curry, beloved Dr Frank-N-Furter and other assorted original characters, had died too... He returned to Transylvania, prepare the transit beam.... RIP Tim Curry, The Rocky Horror Picture Show will never fade from my heart, I spent many crazy evenings there, in dress, and with umprellas and rice, and singing, playing with the movie at tiny Studio Galande, in Saint-Michel.

It was my birthday, I turned 62 ! How crazy does this sound ? ;-)
Husband gave me beautiful flowers, and I received suprise gifts from my friends in the mail. For dinner, we ordered the best sushis from Sushi Shop, and Champagne, and pastries that husband had let me select with Visio from the shop.
We watched the movie "28 Weeks Later", as I had bought "28 Years Later" and "The Bone Temple" but we weren't sure we had seen the Weeks one. LOL

Red and yummy was the theme for my first Friday being 62. I made nice tomato salad and I savoured the tin of Sardines with thaï spices offered by my friend Deer Bartok. The I opened the box that had been delivered and it was my new Spices ! I marveled at Assam Pepper, so pretty.

Saturday I got inspired by beloved Mohini Dey new video WHAMMY AWARD <3
I listened and listened with wide open ears but I'm not sure I could write down the Konnakol bridge that she sings with the dancers sitting in the car...
Still I'm quite happy with this tribute page to an amazing bassist.

On Sunday, I turned the last page of "Moon Over Brendle", a wonderful book by my favourite author Jeff Noon, that I took my time reading as it was a pleasure. Then I opened the first volume of Trilogy ORBITOR by Mircea Cartarescu. I love his Solenoïde and I'm positive this huge read will be amazing too.

Monday, I just lept 4 hours, that's my rythm these days but much too little... Well, I dressed in my new blue satin long gown and it is a marvel.
Then I decided I needed a good relaxing bath so I opened my last India Bath Bomb, put on Brian Eno The Pearl and slipped into the water. But, my foot displaced the bath drain plug and swiftly, the parfumed water and my precious ball went down the drain. What a shame ! What a mess !
I bought a new bath stopper right away.

Take a look at this complex page, all sketched in graphite pencil. A step I should do without, and draw straight on with Fineliners... But I can't quite yet.
This September perhaps, I will try ?

Thanks for your interest, and see you next month ;-)