Book By Its Cover » Sketchbooks

Sketchbook Series: Danielle Kroll

Leah — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:14:07 +0000

Danielle Kroll is a designer and illustrator living in Philadelphia, PA. She attended Tyler School of Art and is currently an in-house designer for Anthropologie. Danielle’s design and typography work is highly illustrative, and her sketchbook is a beautiful indication of this. Her paintings are bright and whimsical; an alphabet wears hats and shoes, plates are adorned with intricate decorations, and even the pickle jar rests on a pretty pink backdrop. Danielle’s blog often features more of the dresses and shoes seen in her sketchbook. Illustrated “What I Wore” posts are a wonderful part of her blog, as are other bits of illustration and typography projects.

The First In Line: From the Sketchbooks of Mattias Adolfsson

Leah — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:46:40 +0000

We were excited back in May to share a peek into Mattias Adolfsson’s fantastically imaginary, obsessively detailed, sketchbooks. Now, his new book The First In Line, published by Sanatorium, compiles numerous drawings from his sketchbooks. There is even a gorgeous limited edition that includes an original drawing. The First In Line begins with a Q & A with Mattias, and includes prints of full sketchbooks spreads and well as close-ups on the insane detail.

Sketchbook Series: Ana Montiel

Leah — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:37:29 +0000

Pretty patterns and flowers are some of my favorite things in the world, and Ana Montiel paints some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen, in dreamy watercolor and beautiful color harmonies. I’m thrilled that Ana is sharing her sketchbooks with us now, filled with bits and pieces of her patterns, flowers, and decorative lettering.

Ana is a London-based Spanish illustrator and designer who has worked for brands including Nina Ricci, Jo Malone, and Carolina Herrera. Her watercolor florals adorn Nina Ricci’s new Cristal Collection, and the numerous drafts for the same project are equally breathtaking. Some of Ana’s other work, “Visual Mantras” explores repetitive, meditative geometric patterns that, in her words, are “based upon the cyclical and rhythmic flow of life”. You can see more of Ana’s work on her website and her blog, and purchase prints and wallpaper of her patterns in her online shop. She also has released a limited edition book, Visual Mantras, compiling the patterns in the series.

Sketchbook Series: Melissa Castrillon

Leah — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:57:56 +0000

Melissa Castrillon is an illustrator living in Cambridge, UK where she is working on an MA in children’s book illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. I first discovered her work in a feature on one of my favorite blogs, Where The Lovely Things Are. Melissa’s drawings have a beautiful attention to pattern and mark making. I love her characters, they always feel slightly melancholy and full of emotion, and seem to have strong bonds with each other. Melissa is currently illustrating a book for the Holland Times and is having a solo exhibition for the duration of January 2012 at the Arts Picture House in Cambridge, UK. She also received ‘Highly Commended’ in the 2011 Cheltenham Illustration Awards for her book Two Wolves. You can see more of Melissa’s work on her flickr, and follow her blog here. She’s currently working on a portfolio site that will be up soon!

Sketchbook Series: Lauren Tamaki

Leah — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:58:04 +0000

This week, Lauren Tamaki, an illustrator from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, shared her sketchbook. Lauren’s clients include Murale, Good Magazine, Swerve Magazine, Theatre Junction GRAND, and le PETIT BERET The Morning News, and her work is full lively lines and bright colors. She also does a lot of hand lettering, which shows up throughout her sketchbook. Lauren’s sketchbooks explore portraits, objects, lettering, and more abstract forms, all in the ease of her vibrant watercolors and line work. I love how varied each drawing is, particularly the portraits. Some are observational, some imaginative, and each person has its own mood and personality. You can see more of Lauren’s work on her website, and a lot more sketchbooks, inspiration, and final pieces on her blog.

Sketchbook Series: John Garcia

Leah — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:00:57 +0000

John Garcia is a artist and illustrator, born in Los Angeles and currently living in New York City. John’s work is greatly influenced by his roots in Southern California, something we’ve bonded over for the past couple years. While I’ve been painting California wildflowers, he’s been drawing surfers, bikes, and composing crazy street art inspired pieces. He works in every scale and medium – from watercolor to woodcuts, scraps of paper to murals. His sketchbooks are layered explorations for finished pieces, and often become finished work themselves. In a sketchbook class we took at Parsons, John’s book was always the most interesting and unexpected. On one page there’s a loose marker drawing, and the next, a rendered painting and textural collage. John and I are currently working on a printed tote together that should be out soon — think, a jumbled pattern of puppies and kitties in Lisa Frank colors. You can see more of John’s work and sketchbooks on his website here.

Sketchbook Series: Kaye Blegvad

julia — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:12:16 +0000

Today I’m excited to share the sketchbooks of London based illustrator Kaye Blegvad. Kaye has been doing illustration work for a few different clients including The New York Times Book Review, but her main focus has been on designing jewelry. Her pieces are based on drawings or themes from her 2-d work. She said she really enjoys “translating illustrations into physical objects, and trying to make jewellery that suggests a narrative.” You can check out her jewelry right here. This is what Kaye had to say about the sketchbooks she’s shared below: “I sometimes find sketchbooks too restrictive (something about all those blank pages is so intimidating!) so for a while I worked on scraps of paper and kept them in a folder ’sketchbook’. I still do this quite often, I really like it as a way of working. Though nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction of filling a sketchbook; I just never want to ‘mess up’ a page in a sketchbook because I feel like it ruins the whole thing. I have dozens of sketchbooks which have a few pages filled and then are abandoned. A really bad habit!” You can see more of Kaye’s work here and follow her blog here. Thanks so much to Kaye for sharing!

Sketchbook Series: Lou Medel

julia — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:38:18 +0000

Lou Medel’s sketchbook work is quite unique. He has taken advantage of the existing graph paper background in his little moleskine and created a series of designs using the grid. His first series of patterns has overlapping shapes in marker and pen. I like when the layers from previous pages show through the thin paper and he adds those bleeds to his new design. In the second series, he fills the boxes to make letters. While these still use his pattern technique, letters emerge creating a 3-d effect. I remember doodling graph paper hearts in math class, but Lou has taken the idea to the extreme. I can see him continuing this style in huge wall sized pieces. It reminds me of this wall-sized crossword puzzles my friends had but never finished (can anyone finish this?). I always thought it was so beautiful. Lou was born and raised on the South side of Chicago. He says making art is very therapeutic for him. I think his work is very therapeutic to look at! Check out his full portfolio right here.

Sketchbook Series: Mattias Adolfsson

julia — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:38:08 +0000

I am pretty sure these sketchbooks will blow your mind! Mattias Adolfsson’s intricate, detailed drawings are quite impressive. On top of that, his style is playful and curious. He creates mini-worlds to get lost in. His stack of moleskines is quite tall but I wouldn’t mind sitting cross-legged in front of it and spending the day browsing. Luckily a condensed version, a book of his sketchbook drawings has just been published by Sanatorium Förlag! You can order a copy right here (if you order before mid-June, it comes signed). Learn more about Mattias here. Now enjoy a peek into Mattias’s world (click on an image to see it bigger):

Sketchbook Series: Rachel Levit

Leah — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:43:44 +0000

Rachel Levit is a Mexican illustrator living in New York, and a star student with me in the Parsons Illustration program. She also just had a piece accepted into American Illustration 30! Her delicate and detailed line work weaves together her upbringing in Mexico and current life in New York. Rachel’s work is full of references to traditional Mexican imagery, often as small decorative details to portraits or scenes. Skulls, hearts, hands, crosses, and eyes become background or clothing patterns. The figures and faces she draws often are small and rounded like folk art figurines. Her color palette is usually limited to blacks, whites, and creams, giving her work a pared-down nostalgia. At the same time, she carves her modern style, filling sketchbooks with pretty girls and fashion-inspired drawings. You can see more of Rachel’s work on her Flickr or blog. She also has a zine pack for sale in her Etsy shop that includes 2 zines, a sticker, and an original doodle for $5!