I am always inspired by artists working in sketchbooks, so it was a treat to attend a talk by a master of the form. At the Ridgefield, CT Library, the artist James Lancel McElhinney spoke on “Painted Books: From the Age of Exploration to the Digital Era.” McElhinney traced the history of art created on pages, from Egyptian papyrus scrolls to illuminated manuscripts to Native American ledger art to the sketchbooks of fine artists, explorers and naturalists. He also touched on more recent work by artists who are using book-like forms or transformed books in sculpture or installations.
Before the invention of printing and mass reproduction, painting and drawing on pages was the only way to capture art in a book. More recently, many artists have used sketchbooks just as a way to capture ideas and memories in the field, to be transformed into paintings in the studio or to be reproduced as prints, but McElhinney reminded us that the book form itself can be considered an alternate surface for an artwork, on the same level as a canvas or panel or wall. The sketchbook IS the artwork, not just a byproduct of the process. The audience collectively winced when McElhinney told the story of an art dealer who had bought an intact antique sketchbook (I forget who the artist was) but then cut it up so he could re-sell the painted pages within as individual sheets.
McElhinney’s own journal paintings are gorgeous, and he showed us quite a few of them after the end of his formal talk and Q&A. He said that in recent years, he’s become much less interested in standing at an easel in the studio, and prefers to paint in watercolor in small sketchbooks/journals (he uses pocket size Moleskine watercolor albums), capturing views of landscapes along the Hudson River, in Iceland, and in Hawaii, among other places.
His paintings strike a lovely balance between loose immediacy and polished realism. He tends to lay out his compositions with an orange pen, which adds a unique glow when it peeks out from under his intense, skillfully modulated watercolors. I asked him for his thoughts on using a sketchbook to just roughly capture a quick idea vs. executing a more refined painting. His response was that he does both: he stops when he’s finished learning from a page.
McElhinney has sold some of his sketchbook art in portfolios of prints which beautifully capture the physical sketchbook spreads with page edges and cover edges peeking out and slight shadows making them look three-dimensional. He said he would even sell an original sketchbook under the right circumstances, but I couldn’t help wondering how he could bear to part with it! Some of the other attendees also wondered about the difficulty of creating art you can sell while executing your work on both sides of the page in a sketchbook that you keep in your pocket. McElhinney agreed there are challenges: “you’ve got a book that’s 90% full and you take it out in the field and you’re worrying what will happen if it falls down a storm drain…” I shudder to think of it!
I so enjoyed getting an up-close view of the original Hawaii journal he brought to the event, and of course agree with his closing comment that “the book as a form is really wonderful.” You can view animated flip-throughs of some of McElhinney’s sketchbooks on his website. On this page, you can view full PDFs of his painted journals. McElhinney is also the author of several books. You can keep up with his news and events at this page or via his blog. Check out his work in person if you have the chance! Any sketchbook lover will find it inspiring.
