I sometimes shudder at the idea of old notebooks being altered in any way, but I came across a book that captures what I think is an interesting and beautiful use of old books and journals. Photographer Francesca Woodman bought various old books, notebooks and exercise books at flea markets in Italy in the 1970s. … Continue reading Francesca Woodman’s Artist’s Books
Several years ago I posted about some of Turner’s sketchbooks that were available in book form: J. M. W. Turner Sketchbooks. I recently went to another exhibition of Turner’s work, this time at the Yale Center for British Art. In the exhibition, there was an actual sketchbook displayed in a plexiglass case, opened to a … Continue reading J. M. W. Turner Facsimile Sketchbooks
There’s a fabulous retrospective of the artist Ruth Asawa on view now at MoMA in NYC, through February 7, 2026. Asawa is best known for her hanging sculptures made of woven wire (the header photo of this post is the shadow of one of them), but this exhibition really opened my eyes to the breadth … Continue reading Ruth Asawa’s Sketchbooks
I love finding images of artists’ sketchbooks. I was familiar with some of Egon Schiele’s paintings, mostly portraits and figures, but a recent book focuses on his landscapes, and as a bonus, features some images of his sketchbooks: I wish I’d been able to see the exhibition at the Neue Galerie– the book was the … Continue reading Egon Schiele’s Sketchbooks
I haven’t done a Notebook Addict of the Week post in a while, so it was great to hear from Joey, who sent some photos of these beautiful spreads: I love all the color and textures! If you check out Joey’s Instagram (@magician_menace), you’ll see even more use of these natural forms and dense patterns … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Joey
I recently watched a documentary about Brian Eno, which was streamed online as part of a 24-hour event where you could watch it up to 6 times. Each showing is different, generated randomly from hundreds of hours of interview footage from across Eno’s career– a very long and interesting career including his time as a … Continue reading Brian Eno’s Notebooks
A few years ago, I went to an exhibition of art by Karla Knight, but for some reason have never gotten around to posting about it til now. Her work is very interesting, full of strange symbols and spacey-looking shapes. But of course I was especially intrigued since some of the exhibition included notebooks! I … Continue reading Karla Knight’s Notebooks
Watercolors are a great companion for many notebooks. If you like to draw or just decorate your pages, adding a splash of color is easy with a pocket size watercolor set. Lately I’ve become a bit of a collector of different watercolor boxes, some of which I’ve mentioned in previous posts where I’ve reviewed watercolor … Continue reading Watercolor Sets
I’ve posted before about Ellsworth Kelly’s Sketchbooks: see A Wonderfully Messy Sketchbook. I had to return to the topic after seeing a wonderful reel of sketchbook images on the Instagram page of EK100.org, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ellsworth Kelly’s birth. A couple of screen grabs below: Apparently he kept lots of sketchbooks, … Continue reading Ellsworth Kelly Sketchbooks
Françoise Gilot died recently, at the age of 101. Françoise Gilot, Artist in the Shadow of Picasso, Is Dead at 101 In remembrance of her many talents, here’s an image from one of her travel sketchbooks, reproduced in facsimile in a limited edition set of books published by Tachen, which I posted about back when … Continue reading R.I.P. Françoise Gilot
