Photographer Nigel Shafran‘s “Work Books” were exhibited in 2018 as the first show at a new London gallery, Sion and Moore. Here’s a few photos from a Wallpaper article about the show: Rather than present the photographs he is celebrated for, the work books – part sketchbook, part diary – give a deeper, more intimate … Continue reading Nigel Shafran’s Notebooks
Imagine buying a vintage Hermès address book on eBay and then realizing it belonged to Dora Maar, the artist and poet who is best known for having been Picasso’s mistress and muse! Brigitte Benkemoun, the author of Finding Dora Maar, describes her process of deducing the address book’s origins: A-B: The first entry is illegible … Continue reading Dora Maar’s Address Book
If you are fortunate enough to be anywhere near Leeds, you are lucky! An exhibition of Henry Moore’s notebooks and sketchbooks is opening this week: The Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Arts University are marking 100 years since Yorkshire’s own Henry Moore started studying sculpture, the first step on his journey to becoming a world … Continue reading Henry Moore’s Notebooks and Sketchbooks
These are some pretty amazing nature journals! The site where I first saw Jo Brown’s images described them as being in a “Moleskine” but that page layout doesn’t look like any Moleskine brand notebook I’ve ever seen. Does anyone recognize it? Many artists find inspiration in the diverse beauty of the environment. UK-based illustrator Jo Brown documents the … Continue reading Jo Brown’s Nature Journals
The gallery exhibition below at An Lantair in Scotland looks like quite an amazing presentation of sketchbooks. The sketchbooks were created during the lockdown, and of course with pandemic precautions continuing, it’s difficult for many people to view it in person. But you can see it online in their virtual gallery. [An Lantair’s] Lockdown Sketchbooks exhibition is … Continue reading Scottish Lockdown Sketchbooks
Australian artist John Lovett has a great article on his website about different kinds of sketchbook-keeping. Aside from using sketchbooks to capture ideas and practice drawing, he talks about using a notebook or sketchbook in the studio as a working book, for recording technical stuff about materials and methods: Artists Studio Notebooks I always have … Continue reading John Lovett on Artists’ Sketchbooks
I love it when I come across textile sketchbooks, such as the ones below by mixed media artist Shelley Rhodes. She works in textiles and collage so her pages have lots of color and texture that go beyond just drawing and painting. If you are inspired by Shelley’s work, you might want to check out … Continue reading Textile Sketchbooks By Shelley Rhodes
These are so simple and beautiful! From My Modern Met: No matter the weather, Azerbaijan-based artist Fidan Zaman takes to the shores of the Caspian Sea to paint the seawater and the sky. From dark, murky waters and gray clouds to turquoise waves and sunlit horizons, Zaman captures the beauty of the beach during all four seasons. … Continue reading Seascape Sketchbooks
I recently posted a couple of photos on Instagram of my collection of books about sketchbooks, journals and notebooks. The posts got a lot of responses, and Ana from The Well Appointed Desk commented “This needs to be a more in-depth blog post. I’ve zoomed in on this photo but I can’t read all the … Continue reading My Bookshelf: Books about Sketchbooks
I’ve mentioned this relatively new Moleskine product a couple of times (Moleskine Monday: Interesting News from Japan About New Products, Moleskine Monday: New Art Collection), but haven’t written more extensively about the portrait format Watercolor Notebook (vs. the more typical landscape format Watercolor Album). I’ve had one for a while, but just started using it. … Continue reading Moleskine Portrait Format Watercolor Notebook Review