I was trying to find online images of Van Gogh’s small sketchbooks (the supposed “moleskines”) when I found the images below. The notebook pictured did not belong to Van Gogh, but was rather a sort of logbook kept at a cafe in Arles that Van Gogh visited. The notebook has been cited as evidence for … Continue reading A Notebook with a Link to Van Gogh?
This photo of artist Gary Panter caught my eye– I wish I could get a better look at that little sketchbook! Panter creates art in various media, but the New York Times article this photo accompanies focuses on his new graphic novel, Songy of Paradise. The article notes that he does not use digital tools … Continue reading Gary Panter’s Sketchbook
This book looks great– an entire graphic novel in facsimile notebook form: My Favorite Thing is Monsters “Set in the same 1960s Chicago where Ferris spent her youth, the book’s main character is Karen Reyes, a 10-year-old obsessed with movie monsters…. The central gimmick of the comic is that Karen is the cartoonist behind its … Continue reading “My Favorite Thing is Monsters,” a Graphic Novel by Emil Ferris
I was really excited when I heard that Stillman & Birn were expanding their product line to include softcover sketchbooks, especially when I saw that a pocket sized version was available. There are so many options out there for hardcover sketchbooks, and so many pocket notebooks, but these really fill a niche in terms of … Continue reading Review and Giveaway: Stillman & Birn Softcover Sketchbooks
Thoughts on sketchbook keeping from various artists: Allen Shaw, Berlin I SPEAK through my watercolour sketches. I often tell people, “I am the sketchbook and you are my song.” It started off with a course at NID called Environmental Perception, which required us to go into villages and sketch. I have done a permanent repeat … Continue reading Artists and Their Sketchbooks
Great drawings from Bologna-based illustrator Davide Bonazzi: “I confess I’m not the kind of artist who absolutely needs a sketchbook when he travels. Mostly I just enjoy traveling light, keeping my eyes wide open and taking pics. I used to keep sketchbooks when I was a student, and later I enjoyed doing sketches on my … Continue reading Davide Bonazzi’s Sketchbooks
A commenter on a recent post asked what notebooks I was using for my business and personal notes. The notebook I was referring to in that post was a pocket-sized squared Moleskine, one of my hoard of old ones from before their quality declined so much. That is my daily catch-all notebook for journal entries, … Continue reading What I Am Using Now
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 sounds like great fun– a live music night at a bar, where a sketchbook makes the rounds so various artists can contribute drawings of each musician, with the that musician’s lyrics on the facing page. “Creative expression is alive and well in Tavern 489, a Stamford restaurant where music and visual art come together … Continue reading Sketches and Songs
Tina Koyama has some great posts about how some new types of Field Notes inspired some new sketching styles. After not loving Field Notes initially, she’s been using the Sweet Tooth edition and the Byline reporter’s notebook and having a lot of fun! I especially love the black and white ink on the red pages. … Continue reading Tina Koyama’s Field Notes Sketches