Sketchbook
Encyclopedia
A sketchbook is "a book or pad with blank pages for sketching," and is frequently used by artists for drawing or painting as a part of their creative process.
The exhibition of sketchbooks at the Fogg Art Museum
at Harvard University
in 2006 suggested that there were two broad categories for classifying sketches
Sketchbooks made out of high quality paper, differentiated by weight (referring to density of the sheets) and tooth (also called grain), allow for a wide variety of techniques to be used, ranging from pencil drawings, to watercolor, to colored pencil, to pen and ink, and so on. Certain paper characteristics might be more desirable for use with certain mediums. Sketchbook paper also comes in a variety of tones, ranging from pure white, to yellow, and includes less common varieties, such as gray.
The sketchbook is more frequently used in displays of contemporary art, as well as historical retrospectives, now that 'intimate' and 'ephemeral' records are increasingly seen by some as more informative than the planned and finished drawing, painting or sculpture.
The form is also now being used as inspiration for the development of online/digital sketchbooks.
has made a big difference to the scope to access documents such as the sketchbooks of famous artists which previously would only be seen in an exhibition. A number of the sketchbooks of famous artists have been digitally recorded and are now available online. Links are provided in the external links section below. Sketches are sometimes removed from sketchbooks at a later date.
has produced a DVD of fifteen palm-sized sketchbooks (of 25) produced during for a period of 18 months in 2002–2003 (copyright/published by David Hockney/Gregory Evans Inc.). The sketches chronicle his home, his studio, his travels, landscapes, still life
s, hotel rooms, his friends and their families.
The exhibition of sketchbooks at the Fogg Art Museum
Fogg Art Museum
The Fogg Museum, opened to the public in 1896, is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. The Fogg joins the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum as part of the Harvard Art Museums....
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 2006 suggested that there were two broad categories for classifying sketches
- Observation: this focuses on the documentation of the external world and includes many such travel and nature studies and sketches recording an artist's travels.
- Invention: this follows the artists' digressions and internal journeys as they develop compositional ideas
Types of sketchbooks
Sketchbooks come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, with varied covers, and differing numbers of pages. Sketchbooks began as a way to provide a readily available supply of drawing paper in the convenient form of a book. Finish of the work found in the sketchbook varies widely from artist to artist, with some having very simple drawings and lots of notes, and some having highly worked images. Over time, it might allow others to see the artist's progress, as his/her style and skills develop. Many artists personalize their sketchbook by decorating the covers.Sketchbooks made out of high quality paper, differentiated by weight (referring to density of the sheets) and tooth (also called grain), allow for a wide variety of techniques to be used, ranging from pencil drawings, to watercolor, to colored pencil, to pen and ink, and so on. Certain paper characteristics might be more desirable for use with certain mediums. Sketchbook paper also comes in a variety of tones, ranging from pure white, to yellow, and includes less common varieties, such as gray.
The sketchbook is more frequently used in displays of contemporary art, as well as historical retrospectives, now that 'intimate' and 'ephemeral' records are increasingly seen by some as more informative than the planned and finished drawing, painting or sculpture.
The form is also now being used as inspiration for the development of online/digital sketchbooks.
Online and digital sketchbooks
The World Wide WebWorld Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
has made a big difference to the scope to access documents such as the sketchbooks of famous artists which previously would only be seen in an exhibition. A number of the sketchbooks of famous artists have been digitally recorded and are now available online. Links are provided in the external links section below. Sketches are sometimes removed from sketchbooks at a later date.
Historical sketchbooks of note
- Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch 1606-1669) Good example of Rembrandt’s sketches and drawings can be found in
- Goya (Spanish 1746- 1828) was a painter and print maker and made an important contribution to the art of drawing.
- The Italian Sketchbook created in the 1770s and currently in the Museo del Prado
- Eight albums of sketchbooks by Goya This link provides a summary of each of the albums, what it contains and what materials were used — the site is still under construction.
- sketchbook drawings held by Museum of Fine Art in Boston
- JMW Turner (English 1775-1851) produced 300 sketchbooks and around 30,000 sketches and watercolours on his travels. Five years after his death, the majority of his art was bequeathed to the nation and is housed at Tate Britain
- Turner sketchbooks, Turner Bequest, Tate Britain This link provides access to all 300 sketchbooks.
- John ConstableJohn ConstableJohn Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
(English 1776–1837) believed in the importance of working from life and based his paintings on sketches and drawings of the landscapeLandscape artLandscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
. Some of his sketches were in oil while others were in small sketchbooks. This is an example of a Sketchbook at the Victoria and Albert Museum - Conrad Martens (English 1801–1878) accompanied Darwin on the Beagle as expedition artist and produced three detailed sketchbooks of places visited and objects seen on the expedition. This is the itinerary of the expedition) and this is the story of his sketchbooks from the Beagle expedition which are in the Cambridge University Library. This is a categorised list of sketchbook images Most of the sketchbook images are in graphite. Click on a link to see images and on an image to see a larger image and more detail about it.
- Paul CézannePaul CézannePaul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
(French 1839-1906) worked from life and made detailed observations of form in his drawings and sketches as well as his paintings. Dover Publications has reproduced one of Cézanne's sketchbooks - Vincent Van GoghVincent van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
(Dutch 1853–1890) made preliminary drawings (sketches) prior to developing his paintings. He often drew with a reed pen and ink. Students of mark-making will probably be interested in the great range of marks he used routinely. - John Singer SargentJohn Singer SargentJohn Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
(1856–1925) Sargent at Harvard — the Harvard University Art Museums' collection of sketchbooks - Various American Artists: Smithsonian Museum – Sketchbooks in the Archives of American Art — the curators' choice "demonstrates the broad range of material available for research at the Archives of American Art from academic notebooks with anatomical studies to illustrated journals, ranging in date from the 1840s to the 1970s"
- Henry MooreHenry MooreHenry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
(English 1898–1986): early drawings (1916-1939) of ideas / for sculptures - Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
(Italian 1452-1419):Leonardo made hundreds of pages of sketchbooks during his life , filled with drawings and writings that went along with his very curious mind , you can find some of his sketchbook pages at the following links: - www.unmuseum.org
- Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Sketch sketchbook 5, at www.scribd.com
Contemporary sketchbooks of note
David HockneyDavid Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
has produced a DVD of fifteen palm-sized sketchbooks (of 25) produced during for a period of 18 months in 2002–2003 (copyright/published by David Hockney/Gregory Evans Inc.). The sketches chronicle his home, his studio, his travels, landscapes, still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s, hotel rooms, his friends and their families.
See also
- PaintingPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
- DrawingDrawingDrawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
- Sketch (Visual drawing)Sketch (drawing)A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
- oil sketchOil sketchAn Oil sketch or oil study is an artwork made primarily in oil paints that is more abbreviated in handling than a fully finished painting. Originally these were created as preparatory studies or modelli, especially so as to gain approval for the design of a larger commissioned painting...
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