BY DANNY GREGORY
How Books
Review by Derek Brazell
Other creatives’ sketchbooks are always intriguing, and this book taps into that interest. A spectrum of sketchbook keepers have been chosen, mainly from the USA, as witnessed by the American feel to the street scenes – quite a few drug stores and fire escapes. Although several artists mention that they will travel to sketch a different world from their own. Each artist has responded to questions from the author, and their text accompanies the busy spreads of images that fill the book.
There is also a lot of writing on the sketchbook images, more than I expected to see, and many appear to be journals, described as diaries or ‘journaling’. Paola Gavina even date stamps each drawing. There are mentions of how sketching has helped the artist through difficult times in their lives – drawing as therapy – and periods of not drawing are discussed, mourning the times when life takes over and the sketchbooks are left unopened. Some images look like finished artwork to me, demonstrating that many of these sketchbook keepers consider the pad an object to spend a lot of time with.
There is much dissection of what qualities are required from a sketchbook (Moleskins get quite a plug), and what it’s like to draw with an audience. Robert Crumb describes the ‘paralysing self consciousness’ of being watched as a well known artist, while others revel in the freedom to live in the moment of sketching.
As anyone who keeps a sketchbook will recognise, the question arises of whether or not you remove the stuff that hasn’t turned out too well. Some categorically never remove an unsatisfactory page – others don’t feel they have to be as puritanical about it. Is the authentic sketchbook an edited one?
An Illustrated Life is interesting to dip into, the quality of work reflecting the professionals and amateurs chosen for inclusion, though its busy layout can be distracting. But then, you don’t expect perfect composition from a sketchbook, do you?.
