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| 7/2/12 water-soluble ink, Hand Book journal |
Danny Gregory’s eagerly awaited book, An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers, came out a few weeks ago,
and after all the anticipation, it does not disappoint. The book is a rich
treasury of travel sketches and personal profiles of many inspiring artists.
Very similar in format to Gregory’s 2008 book, An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers, his latest
book profiles 43 travel journal keepers from many countries. Each artist has
written a first-person account of his or her background in art and travel, how
travel sketching is inspired, and techniques and tools used. Photos of some
artists are included, showing them sketching on location. It is particularly illuminating
to see the common threads among nearly all the artists – that drawing what they
see while traveling enriches their travel experiences, bridges gaps in
understanding about other cultures, and evokes memories like no photographs
can. It’s clear that sketching and traveling have become integrated creative
processes for these artists: Seeing new places motivates drawing, and drawing
motivates observing more carefully the new places they experience.
The meat of the book is a beautiful collection of large, full-color
reproductions of art from the artists’ travel sketchbooks. These unique, spontaneous
views of the world make me want to hop on a plane right now to fill my own sketchbook
with the places I visit.
Most of the artists included – Miguel “Freekhand” Herranz,
Nina Johansson, Cathy Johnson, Tommy Kane, Lapin, Veronica Lawlor and Liz Steel,
to name a few – are well-known in the blogosphere of the urban sketching/on-location
drawing community. A few are less-known discoveries with fresh, surprising perspectives.
In fact, if I have any complaints about this beautiful book,
it is a tiny one: I wish it had included more travelers who are not
professional artists, illustrators or designers, and who are perhaps less
well-known. Almost every participant either has an art degree or makes a living
using their artistic skills. I have seen online the amazing on-location
sketches of so many people who work at “regular” jobs and do not have any kind
of art background. I would have loved to see more of them included. Better yet,
a whole volume devoted to the on-location work of non-professional artists would
be equally inspiring as this one. How about it, Danny?
(The sketch above, made at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, is from my own travel journal during a
trip to the Boston area last July.)
(This book review also appears on Amazon.com.)
I agree and was thinking that as I read it. I just finished it the night before leaving for my own trip.
ReplyDeleteI was amused that so many of them said they were still looking for the "perfect sketchbook". My unofficial record is that most were using Moleskine, Stillman & Birn, or "my own bound sketchbook".
--Kate