{"id":112,"date":"2017-04-09T16:49:09","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T20:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/?p=112"},"modified":"2017-07-12T17:45:10","modified_gmt":"2017-07-12T21:45:10","slug":"book-review-sketchbook-confidential-secrets-from-the-private-sketches-of-over-40-master-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/book-review-sketchbook-confidential-secrets-from-the-private-sketches-of-over-40-master-artists\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Sketchbook Confidential: Secrets from the private sketches of over 40 master artists"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love (love!) looking at the sketchbooks of artists, almost more than looking at the finished works themselves. So, when I saw this book and recognized some of the artists on its list, I ordered it and waited impatiently. Sketchbook Confidential did not disappoint. I was also happy to discover many great artists that I hadn’t heard of before!<\/p>\n

\"Sketchbook
Sketchbook pages by Cathy Johnson. One of the artists I recognized for her journaling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After reading The Creative License<\/a>, which is more like a how-to keep a journal\/sketchbook, it’s doubly enlightening to have an inside peek at all the different ways other artists keep their sketchbook. The two books together make a fantastic duo for people who have never kept a sketchbook or have tried and “failed” to keep one because of pre-misconceptions of how a sketchbook must be. This book is proof that there’s definitely no correct way. Every artist has their own style of keeping a sketchbook, varying in level of detail or steps towards completion. It’s all so personalized. People even sketch on everything from napkins to metal.<\/p>\n

\"Sketchbook
Sketchbook pages by Roberto Cardinale. This is Bob. He builds churches!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each artist is given four pages and a little blurb, which is a sufficient amount of space to showcase the sketches and get a feel for their process. The artists are in alphabetical order by last name and so the book doesn’t need to be read linearly. It’s similar to The Creative License<\/a> in where it’s almost pure inspiration and you’re guaranteed to want to reach for your own sketchbook or journal.<\/p>\n

\"Large
Large Sketch and Pastel Sketch by Richard McKinley. Missed a chance to meet him in New York because of work. Would love to see his sketching process in person!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With that said, this is not a how-to book. There is no instruction anywhere, though many artists do list their tools of preference along with little tips and tricks.<\/p>\n

Though the work of the artists outshines the gripes I do have, there are a few.<\/p>\n

Over half of the book was filled with artists from New Mexico, Utah, California, or Colorado, with over a quarter of the book from New Mexico. That’s not even including the artists that have roots in New Mexico but are no longer there. I know Santa Fe has a strong arts culture, however, it would’ve been nice to have more artists featured from other parts of the world, or at least the country. Neither of the editors, Pamela Wissman or Stefanie Laufersweiler seems to have ties to New Mexico, so I’m not sure why that was the case. Perhaps Sketchbook Confidential 2 has people from more places.<\/p>\n

\"Sketches
Sketches by Chuck Lukacs. Recognized his SF&F work. So imaginative! Not from New Mexico, I think.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I also wish that the artist’s information was also listed somewhere on their four-page spread instead of only the back of the book. This isn’t an art book with many artists crammed into one spread. There are 4 whole pages with lots of white space! Surely there could have been a way to aesthetically put the information there, rather than having readers flip to the back and search to find out more.<\/p>\n

\"Thumbnails
Thumbnails by Mark Spencer. “The way I see the world shapes my art.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I didn’t mind the writing, though it did sound like the artists were answering questions due to the lack of transitions between each paragraph. It also seems as if they’re all answering the same questions, but the book never lists what those questions are. We can only infer by the way the writing sounds because multiple artists appear to be answering the question “Does sketching shape how I see the world?” (pg. 137). I wonder what questions were asked and would’ve preferred them to be listed somewhere. Other questions it sounds like they were asked are “Why do you sketch?” and “What are your favorite sketching tools?”<\/p>\n

Something they do have is a little metric conversion chart at the very end (pg. 174). I’m not sure why, since every time measurements are listed, the conversions are in the parentheses right next to them (as they should be).<\/p>\n

\"Sketchbook
Sketchbook pages by Erin Currier. She uses Moleskine Journals.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Minor gripe: Moleskine was misspelled as Moleskin. (Unless there’s a Moleskin journal I should know about!)<\/p>\n

Now that that\u2019s out of the way, here are some interesting commonalities of keeping a sketchbook along with the number of artists who mentioned it. I only counted the ones that were most explicitly stated:
\nTo Solve Problems: 22
\nFreedom to Explore: 22
\nTo Document Experiences: 20
\nTo Practice Skills\/Study: 18
\nFor Fun\/Pleasure: 13
\nBecause it’s more Honest\/Personal: 11
\nFor Relaxing\/Meditation: 10
\nBecause it’s Low Risk\/Pressure: 8
\nTo Connect\/Communicate with People: 6
\nSketches Nearly Everyday: 14
\nSketches Once a Week or Less: 8<\/p>\n

\"Sketches
Sketches by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. I have one of her books and gave her fantastic Tarot cards as gifts!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TL;DR – The Bottom Line
\n<\/strong><\/span>3\/5<\/strong> (But 5\/5<\/strong> if all you’re looking for is a peek at other artist’s sketchbooks)
\nSketchbook Confidential: Secrets from the private sketches of over 40 master artists|
\n<\/strong>Favorite Quote:<\/strong> “My sketches are like the evolutionary ancestors to my finished work.” – Jennifer McChristian (pg. 75)
\nType of Book:<\/strong> Art Inspiration
\nEditors:<\/strong> Pamela Wissman and Stefanie Laufersweiler
\nPublished:<\/strong> 2010
\nThe Good:<\/strong> Beautiful and inspiring look into sketchbooks, Variety of different styles and mediums
\nThe Bad:<\/strong> Questions asked were not listed anywhere. Artist info not listed on artist spreads. Over 40 artists equal 41 artists…<\/p>\n

Artists (in order of appearance):
\n<\/b>The book was published in 2010 so I’ve updated some links. In checking all the websites, I discovered that an artist had passed away since then (Ed Morgan, 1943-2014) and felt a profound sense of gratefulness that I had the opportunity to see his sketchbook. <\/i><\/p>\n

Robert T. Barrett
\n<\/a>Dan Beck
\n<\/a>William Berra<\/a> – No personal website found. Wikipedia page linked.
\nRoberto (Bob) Cardinale<\/a> – New website link. The one listed in the book is no longer active.
\nErin Currier<\/a> – Warning: Music automatically plays on the website.
\nGeorge Allen Durkee
\n<\/a>Douglas Fryer<\/a> – New website link. He has a blog that’s not listed in the book.
\nTammy Garcia<\/a> – No personal website found. Wikipedia page linked.
\nAlbert Handell
\n<\/a>William Hook
\n<\/a>Cathy Johnson<\/a> – New blog link: http:\/\/cathyjohnsonart.blogspot.com\/<\/a> . The one listed in the book is no longer active.
\nNancy Kozikowski
\n<\/a>Geoffrey Laurence
\n<\/a>Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
\n<\/a>Bev Lee
\n<\/a>Linda Leslie
\n<\/a>Chuck Lukacs
\n<\/a>Jennifer McChristian
\n<\/a>Richard McKinley
\n<\/a>Jeff Mellem
\n<\/a>Ed Morgan
\n<\/a>Art Mortimer
\n<\/a>Claudia Nice
\n<\/a>P.A. Nisbet
\n<\/a>Margy O’Brien
\n<\/a>William O’Connor
\n<\/a>Joe Paquet
\n<\/a>Jean Pederson
\n<\/a>John Potter
\n<\/a>Tony Pro
\n<\/a>Alan Paine Radebaugh
\n<\/a>Chuck Sabatino<\/a> – No active personal website or Wikipedia page found. McLarry Fine Art bio linked.
\nMark Spencer
\n<\/a>Kate Starling
\n<\/a>Aleksander Titovets<\/a> – New website link that wasn’t in the book. Shared with Lyuba Titovets.
\nLyuba Titovets<\/a> – New website link that wasn’t in the book. Shared with Aleksander Titovets.
\nJoshua Tobe
\n<\/a>Elan Varshay<\/a> – Website no longer active. Unable to find other websites with current work.
\nFrederico Vigil – No active personal website or Wikipedia page found.
\nMark White
\n<\/a>Mark Willenbrink<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love (love!) looking at the sketchbooks of artists, almost more than looking at the finished works themselves. So, when I saw this book and recognized some of the artists on its list, I ordered it and waited impatiently. Sketchbook Confidential did not disappoint. I was also happy to discover many great artists that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6,23],"tags":[11,10,18,19],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Kiminjoy_BookReview_SketchbookConfidential_Cover.jpg?fit=450%2C600","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5gsQi-1O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/5-books-for-the-beginner-or-restarting-artist\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":0},"title":"5 Books for the Beginner (or Restarting) Artist","date":"January 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes we just need a kick-start in the right direction. Although the intention was always there, it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve drawn seriously. As such, I\u2019ve decided to\u00a0reboot! It\u2019s helpful to get back to basics\u00a0after a long period of not creating (or even during a really tough art block).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Kiminjoy-Reading-Web.jpg?fit=961%2C667&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/life\/chronicles-of-an-artists-journey\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":1},"title":"Chronicles of an Artist’s Journey","date":"January 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Yeah, that's a fancy title for my first post, but it does capture what this will be: a detailed narrative of my artistic journey. It's a developing lifestyle. I'll be using this blog as a hub to share what I've learned, what inspires me, and what I'm working on -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/kiminjoyicon500x500.jpg?fit=500%2C500&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":84,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/book-review-the-creative-license-by-danny-gregory\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":2},"title":"Book Review: The Creative License by Danny Gregory","date":"February 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Though I've never met him, Danny Gregory isn't a stranger to me. I had come across his works of visual journaling a few times prior and was later given The Creative License by someone very special. During that time, many years ago, my creative-self was at an all-time low and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"Book Review - Cover of The Creative License","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Kiminjoy_BookReview_TheCreativeLicense_BookReviewCover_Sm.jpg?fit=450%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/art\/book-review-the-new-drawing-on-the-right-side-of-the-brain-by-betty-edwards\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":3},"title":"Book Review: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards","date":"June 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Hello, Friends! It's time to dive into another book. This one's a classic! Everyone knows The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. I've had this book for a while, but I never actually did all the exercises, in order, cover to cover, until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"My copy of The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Kiminjoy_BookReview_DrawingOnTheRightSideOfTheBrain_BookReviewCover.jpg?fit=800%2C1067&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/life\/overcoming-the-hesitant-artist\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":4},"title":"Overcoming the Hesitant Artist","date":"March 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you call yourself an artist? Are you a little hesitant? Maybe even, reluctant? Look around and you'll find that many (dare I say, most?) people start out as hesitant artists. They're uncertain or lack confidence. Cue the self-doubt: \"Maybe, I'm not actually meant to be an artist? Where's my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","img":{"alt_text":"Overcoming the Hesitant Artist - Featured Image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Kiminjoy_BlogPost_OvercomingTheHesitantArtist.jpg?fit=800%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":202,"url":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/blog\/games\/game-review-artist-survival-simulator\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":5},"title":"Game Review: Artist Survival Simulator","date":"July 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 I recently replayed Artist Survival Simulator. It was the first game I ever played that was based on living the life of an artist. Unfortunately, most of those games seem to be a bit more on the depressing side and this one is\u00a0no different. Artist Survival Simulator is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Game Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"Featured Image: Game Review of Artists Survival Simulator","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Kiminjoy_BlogPost_ArtistSurvivalSimulatorFeaturedImage.jpg?fit=710%2C334&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kiminjoy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}