Before I forget again- There is a super awesome competition going on over at my favorite kid’s mag Anorak. They are teaming up with The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre and looking for the most inventive storyteller. Check out the contest rules here and win a golden ticket!

Iker Ayestaran, a Spanish illustrator, sent me some pictures of his sketchbook recently and I couldn’t wait to share them. This is what he has to say about his work-”A couple of years ago, a friend of mine had the brilliant idea of giving me a sketchbook. The truth is that initially I did not give to it any use since I am used to drawing the work sketches in the same sheets that I print with the article of press or the order. Now I leave it on my bedside table, and when I do not read or listen to the radio I tend to draw in it. Many of the sketches here presented are drawn at night in bed, without major pretension that to pass the time and as a hand exercise. The good thing is that as you do them out of the working hours and for yourself, you rely on absolute freedom to draw what you want and to experiment. So in my case I might say that it is just another remedy to fight the nights of insomnia and to draw just for drawing´s sake.” You can see what Iker’s more polished pieces look like on his site right here. It’s interesting to compare his rough pencil sketches to his colorful finished images. Thank you Iker!

© Julia Rothman 2007