Oops, I forgot to do a giveaway with the review of the Stillman & Birn Zeta series sketchbook. The company has generously offered 5 prizes– a choice of either a 5.5 x 8.5 hardbound or 6 x 8 wirebound (spiral) sketchbook for each winner. I will select the 5 lucky winners from entries received in … Continue reading Big Stillman & Birn Giveaway!
The Zeta is the latest addition to Stillman & Birn’s excellent line of sketchbooks. I’ve reviewed the others here, so I won’t go into too much detail about the basics of their construction. The key difference with the new Zeta line is that it offers their heaviest paper in a smooth surface as opposed to … Continue reading Review: Stillman & Birn Zeta Series (and Winsor & Newton Watercolors)
Great Britain’s royal family has long been artistically inclined. Their work is now the subject of an exhibition called The Royal Paintbox, which runs from June 22, 2013 to January 26, 2014 at Windsor Castle. Here’s a wonderful example: Exhibition curator Lauren Porter holds a book owned by Queen Victoria containing various sketches drawn in … Continue reading Queen Victoria’s Sketchbook
This is one of the weirdest things I’ve found in a notebook. In a Moleskine pocket sketchbook I bought a couple of years ago and just started using, there is an extra sheet of paper glued in. Usually, these notebook have 80 pages. It’s pretty straightforward– notebook page counts are always in multiples of 4, … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: An Extra Page
Some good tips from the blog “Teach Kids Art” on how to establish a daily sketchbook routine, including suggestions for a lightweight, portable sketching kit. I can second the recommendation for most of these materials as I use them too: To ensure you have a sketchÂbook at your side when opporÂtuÂnity (or inspiÂraÂtion) strikes, you’ll … Continue reading Daily Sketching Tips
This is a great idea– why let your favorite notebook pages go unseen? You don’t have to rip them out if you use one of these frames. I hope this Kickstarter project is a success! They need $40,000 by August 15 and have only raised about $2,500 as of this writing, so spread the word. … Continue reading MOLEHOUSE Frames
Remember the 1000 Journals project? (It was a traveling journal/sketchbook project that started in 2007. It’s still going– according to the website, they now count over 75,000 participating journals, and over 17,000 images uploaded, though the website looks like there have been some spam posts lately, so I”m not sure how actively it’s being maintained.) … Continue reading 1000 Journals Film
A fascinating blog post about preparing to do a sketchbook and laying out the pages. This method won’t be for everyone, but it’s something I’d like to think about for my next travel sketchbook, as I rarely feel like my sketchbook pages have good composition: “I approach my sketchbooks like a graphic designer and the … Continue reading Sketchbook Preparation
A fun promotion for Evernote Moleskines (though I don’t see how it would be a good example of their digital/paper effectiveness): “We had a design event tonight. For the give away, Carlos Rocafort drew a mural on 18 different Evernote Moleskine notebooks. It took him a full weekend and 4 pens, but everyone was pretty … Continue reading Moleskine Monday: Tiled Drawing
This is an oldie but a goodie, and when I came across it, I wondered how I’d never selected Biffybeans aka Stephanie as an addict of the week before. Many of you probably know her well, as the blogger at both Spiritual Evolution of the Bean and Rhodia Drive, as well as a talented artist. … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Biffybeans