There’s something conspiratorially intimate about looking through an artist’s sketchbook. Filled with raw ideas that encompass both beginnings of larger projects and one-shot passing ideas, flipping through someone’s sketchbook is akin to peeking into someone else’s mind.
With Julia Rothman’s latest book “Drawn In” (Quarry Books) you get to gaze into 44 sketchbooks belonging to fine artists, illustrators, graphic designers and cartoonists around the world.From the whimsical drawings of Australian children’s book illustrator Sophie Blackall, to the taped in pen and ink musings of Los Angeles artist Sarajo Frieden, this book is filled with beautiful color reproductions and insightful artist interviews. You’ll discover character designs, intricate typography, cartoons, collages and bold pen and ink work, among more.
Julia Rothman is an illustrator and pattern designer herself, and a few of her own sketchbook pages are included in the book. She runs the blog Book By Its Cover, which features creative art books and pages of inspiring sketchbooks.
“When I was a teenager, I drew various film heartthrobs. Now it’s foreign buildings and lines from songs and books.”—Lizzy Stewart, artist
“…you can see my sense of aesthetics develop from one book to the next. It was a great way to develop a sense of composition, both on one spread at a time and throughout a sequence of pages. One of my favorite things to think about while working in my sketchbooks was how each spread would lead into the next or call back to the previous parts of the book.”—Isaac Tobin, graphic designer
“Sketching is a chance to rough out ideas, get a little ugly without worry, practice little figments of my imagination, learn some ideas, and make some notes.”—Meg Hunt, illustrator
