This book sounds fascinating! It was just reviewed in the New York Times: Rome, 1950: The diary begins innocently enough, with the name of its owner, Valeria Cossati, written in a neat script. Valeria is buying cigarettes for her husband when she is entranced by the stacks of gleaming black notebooks at the tobacco shop. … Continue reading The Forbidden Notebook
I happened to notice an Instagram post from Printed Matter about a facsimile book of artist Jimbo Blachly’s notebooks. (Available on the Printed Matter website.) The activity of drawing is primary to Jimbo Blachly’s work. In addition to individual drawings and watercolors, he has kept daily notebooks and sketchbooks which make up a large visual … Continue reading Jimbo Blachly’s Notebooks
Here’s something to add to my wish list! A $200 limited edition set of facsimile sketchbooks by Françoise Gilot. I highly recommend her book Life with Picasso — it’s a fascinating look not just at Picasso and his work but at Gilot’s own life and thoughts about art. Françoise Gilot, now 96, is best known for … Continue reading Françoise Gilot’s Travel Sketches
A new book called The Revenge of Analog has a more detailed version of the Moleskine origin story with a twist I’d never heard before: During the summer of 1995, [Moleskine’s now-VP of Brand Equity and Communications Maria] Sebregondi was sailing off the coast of Tunisia on the yacht of her friend Fabio Rosciglione. He … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: The Revenge of Analog
If there’s one thing I love more than a notebook, it’s a facsimile notebook! I have been building up a small collection of books that reproduce artists’ notebooks or sketchbooks and they are among my favorite art books to flip through for inspiration. I’ve already reviewed a few of them: Lynda Barry’s Syllabus (buy here) … Continue reading Franz Marc’s Sketchbook from the Battlefield
This week’s addict is the award-winning author of the bestseller Graceling, among other books. She wrote the first draft of one of its sequels, Bitterblue, in seven wire-bound notebooks, with some serious editing happening on many of the pages, as you can see from her photos below! It’s a fascinating view into a novelist’s … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Kristin Cashore
From a lovely essay about appreciating the worn, torn, lived-in-ness of books and notebooks, the “messiness of creation”: “For about fifteen years now I have been keeping a notebook, or multiple notebooks actually, ostensibly with the intention of jotting down ideas or thoughts before they escape off into the ether. Occasionally these thoughts result in … Continue reading In Praise of Wear and Tear
This week’s addict is Ben Hatke, creator of the ‘Zita the Spacegirl‘ series. In a guest post at GeekDad, he talks about the importance of sketchbooks in his creative process: “I can’t stress enough the importance of sketchbooks in my creative work. I think one of the most important things that anyone with an interest … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Ben Hatke
Not 100% notebook related, but pretty cool! Lowriders in Space was recently named a best children’s book of 2014 by Kirkus Reviews. The illustrator, Raul Gonzalez, did all the artwork in Bic pens, and says “The reason I did this is that I wanted the book to have a very accessible book to youngsters out … Continue reading A Kids Book Illustrated Entirely in Ballpoint Pens
Here’s another book I’ve been thinking about adding to my collection: Photographers’ Sketchbooks. Since it’s photography, not all of the “sketchbooks” are traditional paper ones, though a couple are shown below. From the review linked below: “This book is comprised of over 500 illustrated pages featuring the tangible objects that help these photographers realize their … Continue reading Photographers’ Sketchbooks