The source material in my sketchbooks is pure gold. My good mate “Fritz” Fitton says:
“If you want a perfect reproduction of a time, place or object, use a camera”
I couldn’t agree more. I rely heavily on the sketches in my many sketchbooks to capture the spirit of place or person. I have a number of sketchbooks on the go at any one time. For different subject matter and as journals and for ideas and notes from exhibitions and gallery visits. I have found my sketchbooks are becoming increasingly curated. That isn’t in keeping with the spirit of their intention, so I find myself working more in a sketchbook purely intended to develop ideas and looser work.
I have printed my first book. It is a compendium of three landscape format sketchbooks. It replicates drawings from those sketchbooks as they appear in the originals. The book is available at £25.00 plus p&p.
I’m not tied to any particular sketchbook. There are many out there and the choice is bewildering. My advice would be to find one or two that work for you in terms of size, format and paper type before branching out.
I was given my first Moleskine sketchbook in 2005 as a leaving present. It took me ten years to draw in it. I took inspiration from Bill Riseboro’s books on architectural history and used his illustrative techniques to create journals of holidays in Europe. That discipline then freed up into drawing in some form or another on a regular, if not daily basis.
Here is a selection of drawings in my sketchbooks.
Don’t let the format of the sketchbook dictate the composition of your drawings.
All of these drawings bring back great memories as well as source material for finished works.
Scotland and Northumberland provide me with endless inspiration.
I always have a number of sketchbooks on the go at any one time. Books for different subjects, for journals, for notes on exhibitions and gallery visits.
Sketchbooks for specific exercises such as “Inktober” and sketchbooks you can stuff in your pocket and pull out when you need them.
