Category Archives: Sketchbook/journal

Been a while since we posted pages from a sketchbook.  The ones posted here were created by Amsterdam-based artist Sarah van Dongen.  She is a graduate of contemporary literature focusing on children’s book.  Missing the creative life she decided to enroll in children’s book illustration at Cambridge, UK and since then has never stopped drawing. The Dutch illustrator takes her sketchbook and art supply everywhere resulting in illustrations based on observation and daily life.  On an interview with Gumclub she says this about her sketchbook:

“My sketchbooks are like diaries. They are a safe place where I can experiment. They also hold up a mirror to me in terms of productivity. I know when I draw every day it gets a little easier next time. And in my sketchbook I see when I last drew, because I add a date everywhere.”

More of her work can be found on her website and on Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Sarah van Dongen.

When we review an artist’ website we are always drawn first to their sketchbooks as it is a view of their life in that present moment.  Ralf Nietmann is a graphic designer who in 2006 founded his own design studio in the heart of Hamburg.  His figurative work always tries and express the one perfect moment evident in the immediacy of his drawing style. We like his work so much that we will probably follow up with more.

The artist can be followed on his website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Ralf Nietmann.