Sketchbook Quotes

“The sketchbook was still open on the table and I rushed to it.
It was the one that Edward used over the summer of 1862. I had sat beside him while he made those very lines on that piece of cotton paper: studies for the painting he had planned, something he had been thinking about for years. On the following pages, I knew, were his sketches of the clearing in the woods and the fairy mound and a stone croft by the river, and at the bottom corner of one, in loose scratched lines, the heart he had penned, and the ship on the wide sea, as we spoke excitedly of our plans.”
― Kate Morton, The Clockmaker's Daughter

“Sketchbooks are fascinating; they are a window into an artist's or designer's mind, revealing their unique way of looking at or thinking about the world. However, the sketchbook has become a much fetishised object featured in countless books, blog's and social-media accounts showcasing stylised and curated examples that few can emulate. It is no wonder that at some point on the Foundation course every student articulates anxiety or frustration over their own sketchbook: it's too big, too small, too messy, too contrived, I can't draw, what's it for?
So why do we work with a sketchbook and what is it really for?”
― Lucy Alexander, The Central Saint Martins Guide to Art & Design: Key lessons from the world-renowned Foundation course

“The revenue arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely sufficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder, and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda”
― Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleep Hollow & Other Stories, Complete and Unabridged

“The title on the front of the sketchbook was written in bold cursive: 'Libby's Book of Butterflies.'
One of the edges was folded, and she smoothed it with her hand, reverently, to honor the sister she'd never known. Then she stepped back under the light and flipped through the first pages. There were beautiful paintings of butterflies, their wings bright from the watercolors.
Did her sister create this book or did someone make it for her?
Mum had loved her gardens, but Heather had never known her to do any kind of artwork. She'd always been busy planting her flowers and working as a hairdresser and caring well for their family.
Intrigued, Heather slowly turned the pages. The butterflies were unique in their brilliance, each one with a magical name.
Golden Shimmer. Moonlit Fairy. Lavender Lace.
Under the butterflies were short descriptions. Like they all had different personalities. Her favorite was the Autumn Dancer, colored a vibrant orange and red with speckles of teal. It reminded her of a leaf, clinging to its branch before the autumn winds blew it away.”
― Melanie Dobson, Shadows of Ladenbrooke Manor

“Unlike everything else in these pages, my sketchbook was never intended for any sort of publication. In fact, it was never really meant to be seen by anyone. It's the closest thing I have to a diary, and it exists mainly for my own amusement, practice and mental health.”
― Adrian Tomine, Scrapbook: Uncollected Work, 1990-2004