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
From My Modern Met: In 2017, Spanish artist Alicia Aradilla decided to embrace a nomadic lifestyle and travel the world. Instead of keeping a diary of her journeys, however, Aradilla began documenting the architecture, nature, and other memorable sites she saw—and continues to experience—in sketchbooks. So vibrant and beautiful! Read more: Nomadic Artist Shares Her Travels Through … Continue reading Colorful Travel Sketchbooks
From Wallpaper.com: Hair artist Julien D’ys is one person never low on artistic output. Over the years, he has amassed hundreds of notebooks all bursting with sketches, paintings and photographs that have formed the basis of his work with Comme des Garçons, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld and Marni, to name a few. ‘My notebook is like my brain,’ D’ys says. … Continue reading Julien D’ys’ Notebooks
Roy Lichtenstein is best known for his Pop Art comic book style works, so I was quite surprised to come across this page from one of his sketchbooks, which is now in the collection of the Whitney Museum. Not comic-y at all, these seem to be studies of perhaps architectural moldings and patterns. I was … Continue reading Roy Lichtenstein’s Sketchbook
I have a couple of Moleskine’s Japanese Albums, but I’ve never actually used one. The elongated spread of pages always seems daunting to me, but I love to see the way other artists take advantage of this format. American illustrator Chris Russell is one of the best I’ve seen. Large narrative paintings by seventeenth century … Continue reading Chris Russell’s Humanity Notebooks
Here’s some tips from a few artists about how to get yourself going with a sketchbooking (or notebooking) habit: Indian artists offer tips on how to start sketchbooking in 2020. I feel like my own sketchbook has been rather stagnant lately so I need to take some of these insights to heart! Mumbai-based artist Sameer … Continue reading How To Start Sketchbooking
I really miss the “Book by Its Cover” blog, especially the series of posts about sketchbooks. (The blog has been inactive since 2015 but the archives are still viewable.) Here’s a cool post I’d flagged a few years ago: Book By Its Cover » Sketchbook Series: John Garcia. I love this shot of John’s pile … Continue reading John Garcia’s Sketchbooks
Here’s something I came across on the website of the Morgan Library: This is the only surviving personal notebook of the French artist Édouard Manet (1832–1883). He used it in the early 1860s, when he was between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty, documenting aspects of his everyday life and work in the two years … Continue reading Édouard Manet’s Notebook
I loved these images of Octavia Butler’s notebook, with her affirmations about becoming a successful writer. (She eventually did.) The post at Black Cardigan Edit where I found these also shows off some notebook pages by Sylvia Plath and Frida Kahlo! Other posts about writers’ notebooks Other posts about artists notebooks and sketchbooks
There’s an interesting exhibition of Turner’s watercolors at the Mystic Seaport Museum in CT. Of course, browsing in the museum shop is always half the fun, and I had a chance to flip through a book of Turner Sketchbooks: Buy at Amazon Here’s my favorite page: There were no intact Turner sketchbooks exhibited at the … Continue reading J. M. W. Turner Sketchbooks