What they think about, why they sketch, what they do with their sketches, and other words of their choices. I was both surprised and not at some of the commonalities. A few Takeaways I flagged: Mattias Adolphsson: "I find that drawing in my sketchbook is easier for me than using other media. Very few people know I am doing it Having people watch while I do it would be a bit of a buzzkill. Don't tread on my Zen, man.
That's where you really learn things, And learn to express your real, personal feelings. And don't worry about creating masterpieces or only drawing the pretty things. Look for the commonplace, the unnoticed details of everyday reality. To draw fro life is to learn from life. But you know, you need to be compelled by some inner need to fill the blank page, It's gotta come from within.
I like seeing how everything relates to everything else. I'm not a fan of much of the art I saw, but that doesn't stop me from admiring the artists, and their processes. Razinha Jun 8, A really nice compilation of selections from a very diverse range of sketchbooks and illustrated journals, paired with interviews of each artist. It appears that all were asked the same questions, which brings out interesting recurring themes. I found the layout a bit challenging -- I wanted thumbing through it to be more like looking at, well, an illustrated journal, but instead there is so much information and condensed imagery packed onto each page that my eye has a tendency to just glance off it -- yet for the patient reader, this is still a marvelous and very inspirational assemblage of creative work.
I was excited to see names like Chris Ware and R. Crumb here, but enjoyed looking at the journals of more obscure artists just as much. Of course I received them all the same week. I have a hard time appreciating art that is, in my view, ugly.
I found some of the journal entries to be filled with sketches, drawings and paintings that I had an almost impossible time appreciating. The ones that really got to me seemed to be grotesque combinations of humans and animals. Even later: I looked through the book again and read more of the entries. I have to admit that there are a lot of sketches and drawings which are not revolting. I found the words of the some of the artists intriguing as well.
Its full of gorgeous images and inspiring details of drawing journals. Draft:Danny Gregory. Home Groups Talk Explore Zeitgeist. I Agree This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and if not signed in for advertising. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
Members Reviews Popularity Average rating Mentions 5 48, 4. The margins sometimes spill over with hurriedly scrawled shopping lists and phone numbers. The cover may be travel-worn and the pages warped from watercolors.
Open the book, and raw creativity seeps from each color and line. The intimacy and freedom on its pages are almost like being inside the artist's mind: You get a direct window into risks, lessons, mistakes, and dreams. The private worlds of these visual journals are exactly what you'll find inside An Illustrated Life.
This book offers a sneak peak into the wildly creative imaginations of 50 top illustrators, designers and artists. Included are sketchbook pages from R. In addition, author Danny Gregory has interviewed each artist and shares their thoughts on living the artistic life through journaling. Watch artists--through words and images--record the world they see and craft the world as they want it to be. The pages of An Illustrated Life are sometimes startling, sometimes endearing, but always inspiring.
Whether you're an illustrator, designer, or simply someone searching for inspiration, these pages will open a whole new world to you. Recently added by chrisrin , Cecil-Mawkish , cyrilio , Saladbar , dvnmng , Allmanite , candyharlot. No current Talk conversations about this book. More Details Original Title. Other Editions 1. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about An Illustrated Life , please sign up.
This question contains spoilers Is it a good book? See all 3 questions about An Illustrated Life…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Jul 22, Dave Schaafsma rated it really liked it Shelves: gn-memoir , art , gn-education. We got insights into the artists as they share their art, their sketches, their works in progress, their thinking on the page in visual form.
So everyone does it differently, of course. This is based on an exhibition at the Brooklyn Art Library. Gorgeous and inspirational. I used it for my comics class, and they loved it. View 1 comment. Feb 17, Splendy rated it liked it. If I were smart, I would start a business making spiral-bound sketchbooks with high-quality paper for artists.
Many make their own by selecting paper and having them custom bound. The sketchbooks in An Illustrated Life are gorgeous, inviting, varied and worthwhile. The interviews, however, are not entirely impressive. They definit If I were smart, I would start a business making spiral-bound sketchbooks with high-quality paper for artists. They definitely take a backseat in comparison to the visual content. Most of the stories focus on the use of sketchbooks in artists personal and professional lives, and how each artist got started in drawing.
The problem is, they all pretty much say the same thing. And each artist shares their favorite tools: namedropping pens, sketchbooks and paper manufacturers is borderline advertising and takes the focus away from the beauty and inspiration of creative work.
Just because you own a fancy pen doesn't mean you're able to create anything interesting. More famous artist like R. Crumb and Stefan Sagmeister are featured too. Once in a while, artists offer advice, but the real inspiration is in the images.
Give yourself some time to pour over the hundreds of illustrations in these amazing sketchbooks. Jan 15, Bonny rated it it was amazing Shelves: art-books. I wasn't going to buy or read this book. I thought that a compilation of several artist's work would be somewhat chaotic.
When favourable reviews started coming through from friends and artists on the internet I was impressed enough to want to look at the book and decide for myself. I had to wait until i I wasn't going to buy or read this book. I had to wait until it arrived in our local store because I was hesitant to order it unseen online.
One quick look and a dip into a few pages had me convinced! I bought the book on Tuesday and finished it late on Wednesday!!! Yes, there are styles of artwork I don't identify with, but more that I do. I can at least appreciate the diversity and creativity of various artists. That in itself is educational and reason enough for buying the book.
The book is more cohesive than I thought it would be because Danny's style of his interviews add a continuity to each section of featured artists.
He does a remarkable job of pulling it all together into a book that is enjoyable to read. The book is at times funny and sad and always revealing.
My only gripe would be that some of the artists I know and admire didn't make it into the book. Maybe there is a possibility for a second volume? Feb 12, Rachel Kopel rated it it was ok. I am a great fan of Danny Gregory, but I was somewhat disappointed by this eagerly awaited book. While there are some really lovely examples, such as those of Jane LaFazio and Gay Kreger, and a few others, mostly women, I found that too many of the sketchbooks were simply ugly juvenile cartoons, mostly by men.
I had the desire to use sticky notes and calculate how many were illustrations and how many these cartoons and how many by men and how many by women. And I decided I really didnt want to s I am a great fan of Danny Gregory, but I was somewhat disappointed by this eagerly awaited book. And I decided I really didnt want to spend the time. It wont change the content of the book. I will go back and tag the ones I want to find easily again, but for now the book is on the shelf and not the coffee table.
Feb 13, Mel rated it liked it Shelves: read-in , reference , art-history. It is always interesting to me to see how other artist's think and work and there is no better way to do that than to be allowed to peer into their sketch journals. This book is an invitation to do that. I just wish the artists that were chosen were a little more interesting.
I actually bought this and I almost wish I would have just gotten it from the library. It was definitely worth a p It is always interesting to me to see how other artist's think and work and there is no better way to do that than to be allowed to peer into their sketch journals.
It was definitely worth a peruse though and there really is not much reading involved but more looking. I am sure I will look through this again when I am feeling like I need some motivation and inspiration. Nov 02, M rated it it was ok. I wonderful little book about the sketchbooks of artists and writers many of us love. It's fatal flaw however is the lack of humility it gives the subject matter as the author treats each subject as if they sketchbooks are sacred texts.
The reality that most won't admit is that these works were created to show people, and those that weren't won't be seen. Artists are fickle and vain and very strategic in the way they let people view their work especially their notebooks. Where this book succeeds I wonderful little book about the sketchbooks of artists and writers many of us love. Where this book succeeds it also fails perpetuating the myth that artists only ever produce good work.
Jun 19, Chris rated it liked it Shelves: creativity , nonfiction , journaling , done , art , art-journals , View 2 comments. Nov 21, Douglas Gorney rated it really liked it. Hard to really ever say you've "Read" this kind of book, as it's the sort of thing you keep picking up, leafing through and finding new things in. Maybe it has something to do with the coming of age of the graphic novel, maybe it's that it's a tactile, analog antidote to our digital moment, but the sketchbook has graduated from a preparatory medium to finished art object.
If like me you are eno Hard to really ever say you've "Read" this kind of book, as it's the sort of thing you keep picking up, leafing through and finding new things in. If like me you are enough of an artist or doodler to have a sketchbook, you might also be excited by he possibilities opened up by this graphic renaissance.
While my sketchbooks are working tableaux for studies, paint color tests and warmups, I've always wanted them to be something more: journals, records of a place and time, maybe even narratives. Danny Gregory has done a great service by giving you a peek inside the, ah, Private Sketchbooks Of Artists, Illustrators And Designers to show you the many ways, well, some of the ways, anyways, that you can make your sketchbook into something special—something greater than the sum of its parts.
Gregory got artists from around the country to give him not only images from their sketchbooks, but carefully considered thoughts on how they approach their sketchbooks and illustrated journals. Massively mixed media, notation and journaling, collage, panel framing are just a few of the spaces in which they've showed you can play.
A real inspiration to keep a journal while traveling, and train the eye to see new places in a whole new way. Apr 20, Karen rated it really liked it. Oct 16, Melinda rated it really liked it Shelves: nonfiction. Really enjoyed taking small dips into this book of illustrated journals. What a bargain for a buck! The art is incredibly varied, although most of it is the work of professional artists and designers.
Don't let that discourage you, however. I am intrigued by the idea of keeping an illustrated journal, also by the idea that the practice of daily drawing can grow and enhance your creative powers -- something I've allowed to go dormant for far too long. I took my time with this one, reading all the Really enjoyed taking small dips into this book of illustrated journals.
I took my time with this one, reading all the descriptions and looking at the sketchbooks. Enjoyed it so much I sought out Gregory's other book like this, An Illustrated Journey, about keeping a travel sketchbook. Good stuff. Mar 25, R. I bought An Illustrated Life initially thinking I was going to plow right through. To me, it's much better in small doses.
With as many varying personalities, ideas and "art," it was a little daunting to continually read for longer than 15 minutes. The more I read at one sitting the more the people in the book would blend into one another. I guess I have a really short attention span.
Either that, or can't handle the idea of being jolted from one artist to the next. Once I started to get into an artist, it was over. The features ranged from anyhwere to somewhat boring to downright amusing. Robert Crumb's was great with his unabashed straight-up honesty at least I think he was being honest.
The nice thing about featuring so many artists is that if you didn't like one you could move right onto the next. I wish the format was a little larger so the images and text could be easier to view and read. Having said this I still think it's pretty well executed and presents the artists in a very attractive manner. I think it's a great coffee table book to pick up every now and again. It would certainly make a great gift to aspiring artists or to anyone who enjoys art or its process.
Oct 20, Will Simpson rated it really liked it. This book is great. The reason I rated it a 4 rather then a 5 is because it seemed full of professional designers who were in a ways showing off. All the jounalers seemed to responding to a questionnaire in the text which got old and predictable. A couple of nuggets I got were, alternative styles of drawing are from reality and from imagination.
One requires drawing in public, in the wild and the other is more private and is usually done in the studio. Cartooning or telling a story in frames is This book is great. Cartooning or telling a story in frames is an technique to explore. How a page is filled effects the work. Some fill the entire page with a single drawing and some leave lots of white space. A couple of people used the simplest of ballpoint pens, pens swiped from the bank or doctors office and 2H pencils.
Dec 18, Sherry sethurner rated it really liked it Shelves: nonfiction , art. I'm a big fan of Danny Gregory, a real cheerleader encouraging people to stop being so hard on themselves and get out there and sketch. His previous books, Creative License and Everyday Matters have inspired hundreds of folks. This book is different. It's a collection of sketchbooks from illustrators, everyone from R. Crumb to a French teacher in New Jersey.
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