This book looks really cool: The Sea Journal: Seafarers’ Sketchbooks From the description: In this remarkable gathering of private journals, log books, letters and diaries, we follow the voyages of intrepid sailors, from the frozen polar wastes to South Seas paradise islands, as they set down their immediate impressions of all they saw. They capture … Continue reading Seafarers’ Sketchbooks
This is my latest favorite find in the “Artists’ Facsimile Sketchbooks” category: Hilma Af Klint Notes and Methods. I saw it for sale at the McNally Jackson bookshop in NYC and it’s full of lots of great reproductions of full notebook spreads. I saw the Hilma Af Klint exhibition at the Guggenheim a few months … Continue reading Hilma Af Klint’s Notebooks
I came across an article from The Economist about a new exhibition at the British Library, which sounds great: it’s all about the history of writing and note-taking. The article is behind a paywall, unfortunately, but here’s a taste: NEATLY HANDWRITTEN, with a simple diagram below a numbered list, the sheet looks like any fussy … Continue reading Writing Exhibition at the British Library
An amazing image from the notebook of a Sudanese political prisoner in the 1970s: Trained as an artist and photographer in Khartoum, London and New York, El-Salahi began documenting the experience he and other prisoners — including university professors, labor union heads, lawyers, scientists and media figures— underwent, drawing on shreds of cement bags. Fearing … Continue reading Ibrahim El-Salahi’s Sketchbook from a Sudanese Prison
I don’t remember how I came across the website of artist Gordon Powell, but I loved this photo of his work space, with a composition book in progress: Gordon Powell, Visual Artist drawing table 2013 My studio drawing table with assorted tools and one of my “Composition Books” Powell has published a facsimile book with … Continue reading Gordon Powell’s Composition Book
A gorgeous, dense sketchbook spread by artist Sterling Hundley, drawn with Blackwing pencil, in what appears to be a Moleskine. This is the kind of sketchbook page I can get lost in. The observational sketchbooks of Sterling Hundley. With a focus on time as a central theme, these journals are filled with “compression portraits”, which … Continue reading Sterling Hundley’s Sketchbook
Is tidying up notebooks possible for us notebook addicts? I’ve been a tidy person who folds her t-shirts precisely and stores them vertically in drawers since long before Marie Kondo‘s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” hit the bestseller lists. Because I’ve lived in some very tiny New York apartments, I’ve always been pretty good … Continue reading Marie Kondo and Tidying Up Notebooks
Bestselling author and artist Austin Kleon keeps some great notebooks (see here for other posts I’ve done featuring his work) , and I love this shot of some of his collection. Based on the dates, he goes through about 8 per year, and this photo was from March 2018, so I’m sure there are quite … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Austin Kleon
You’ve probably seen Wendy MacNaughton’s artwork, even if you aren’t familiar with her name. She has illustrated some really cool books, including these: , and I just discovered this amusing blank notebook she created, the Punk Rock Writers Journal: Now she’s doing a regular feature in the business section of the New York Times, and … Continue reading Wendy MacNaughton in The New York Times
I have quite a collection of books about sketchbooks and notebooks and stationery. Here are a few of my favorites that you might want to consider as a gift for the notebook lover who has everything… for yourself, that is!