Notebook Stories » Art

Daniel Ting Chong’s Pharos NoteBooks

Nifty — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:09:07 +0000

I love the fun, doodly quality of these cover designs by Daniel Ting Chong, designed for a school in South Africa:

via Daniel Ting Chong: Pharos NoteBooks » Design You Trust – Design and Beyond!.

Moleskine Monday: Comfortable Shoes Studio Journal Flip

Nifty — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:16 +0000

I love seeing videos of people flipping through their notebooks, especially colorful art journals like the one below, from Leslie at Comfortble Shoes Studio.

Notebook Addict of the Week: Melissa Castrillon

Nifty — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:00:22 +0000

Here’s another sketchbook addict, found via the “Sketchbook Series” posts at Book By Its Cover. She uses an interesting variety of sketchbooks and her artwork is lovely!

See more here.

Samuel Beckett’s Notebooks

Nifty — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:45 +0000

Having seen Endgame and Waiting for Godot, I’d have to admit that I find these notebooks much more interesting than Beckett’s actual plays!

See more at A Rare Look at Samuel Beckett’s Doodle-Filled Notebooks | Brain Pickings.

Moleskine Monday: Nicoz’s Illustrated Diary

Nifty — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:46 +0000

Another amazing example of an illustrated Moleskine journal:

See more at One year moleskine #12 | nicoz goes west.

Leigh Reyes on the Fabriano Quadrato Artist’s Journal

Nifty — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:21 +0000

Leigh Reyes takes a look at a Fabriano artist’s journal with pages in 4 different neutral tones:

Her verdict? It’s great for watercolor, including the beautiful work below:

Moleskine Monday: Customized Cahiers in Progress

Nifty — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:00:54 +0000

If you have ever wanted an inside look at the workshop and process of an artist who sells customized Moleskines on Etsy, check this out:

Notebook Addict of the Week: Lapin

Nifty — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:31 +0000

Lapin’s been featured here before, but I spotted this via Doodlers Anonymous and had to make it an addict post. Here’s what DA had to say:

If you like to sketch and you don’t already know the work of the wonderfully talented Lapin, then you best start getting familiar with him. He’s a force to be reckon with. The above photo was taken while standing on a ladder and conveys (more or less) every drawn sketchbook of his.

Simply, WOW….

Isn’t this just glorious?

From the Mailbag

Nifty — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:00:50 +0000

Catching up on my correspondence again!
Allegra Newman writes to tell us about her book, 365 Things to Write About:

“[The book] offers exactly 365 people, places, object, and ideas on blank, lined pages where people can write their responses. My writing partner and I created it as a different way to jumpstart our brains every day before we start work (or begin a new creative side project). We recommend spending 10-15 minutes a day writing whatever comes to your mind about one of the prompts. It could be a poem, a short story, a list, description, or silly rant. Regardless of what is written, it helps people in various walks of life to boost their brain power, generate new ideas, and connect with their inner creativity for a few minutes each day.”

Sounds like a great creativity booster! It’s available on Amazon.

Melissa needs help finding her perfect notebook:

I was hoping you might be able to help me find the right notebook for me. I’m trying to find a hard bound notebook or journal with white (not off-white like moleskin) blank pages that is in portrait format and bigger than 11×14. If you could even suggest a brand to try that would be very helpful.

The tricky thing here is finding something larger than 11×14″. The Cachet Classic Black Cover Sketchbook would be just right, but 11 x 14″ is the largest size. The Moleskine A3 sketchbbok is slightly larger at about 11 3/4 x 16″, but the paper won’t be the bright white she’s looking for.

Dick Blick Art Materials has a good selection of other sketchbooks, but the only ones I saw that were larger than 11 x 14″ were wire-bound. The other solution might be to buy some extra-large paper and bind your own book! Does anyone else have any ideas?

Sandra found a cool notebook and wants your help in finding more:

A couple of days ago, I found this sketchbook at Marshall’s Department store for $4.95. It’s approximately 9 in x 13 in, a thin ivory cardstock with red trim and a beautifully marbled cover. It has a staple binding, but it’s very sturdy. The wording ‘Valentina, Made in Italy’ is printed on the inside back cover. I love the quality of the paper, but find the size a bit difficult to manage and would love to find out if the sketchbook can be found in any other size. I searched Google and Bing but was unable to find any information. The Marshalls’ website failed to offer any listing. Would you know of any other store that might carry this sketchbook? Or shall I just starting haunting any Marshall’s I can find, in the hopes of discovering more of these gems?

Nestor asks “Do you know of any small safe that can be used to store your journal/diary so that no one else reads it?”
I have never stored my notebooks in anything more secure than a shoe box, but I do have one of these:

I use it for storing my passport, social security card, and important financial papers, but it could easily be used for notebooks as well. However, it’s very heavy and not that roomy inside because of the thick, fireproof walls. You could also use a more basic fireproof box like this:

These options might not be very sophisticated in terms of the lock mechanism, as they seem more designed for fire survival than theft prevention, but there are lots of other options for safes and security boxes here.

I’ll catch up with some more questions and submissions from readers soon. Thanks for all your emails!

Notebook Addict of the Week: Tom Lynch

Nifty — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:00:25 +0000

This week, we have another sketchbook addict. Here’s some of his favorites:

And here’s some of the beautiful work he fills them with!

Read more at WENT SKETCHING: Studio Workhorse: The 4×6 Strathmore Sketch and WENT SKETCHING: Moleskines on the Road, and definitely follow his blog for lots of great posts on using various art materials.