Ted Mills wrote to us about Danny Gregory’s new book:
"This is going to be very cool, and no doubt there will be some Moleskines among the sketchbooks.."
Here’s a snip from Mr. Gregory’s blog:
"…let me begin by telling you about my newest book. It’s called “An Illustrated Life: Drawing inspiration from the private sketchbooks of artists, illustrators and designers” and it’s been so exciting to work on it. I contacted every person whose work I’ve admired over the years and asked them if they would be willing in sharing pages form their illustrated journals and allowing me to interview them about their process, their tools, how they use their books, and what impact it has on their lives. To my delight everyone I asked said they would be happy to be part of the project. I accumulated an embarrassment of riches: dozens of pages from more than fifty amazing people and now the book is overstuffed to bursting.
It’s interesting how many ways people approach the same activities: some are careful records of daily life, some are flights of fancy; some are richly annotated, others are collections of wild ideas, some are very utilitarian, others are museum pieces. The interviewing process has also been fascinating: some artists are very matter of fact and unemotional about how they work in their books while other are passionately in love with theirs. Some see their sketchbooks as stepping-stones to other forms of art; some see their journals as the highest pinnacle of their creativity and the truest form of self-expression.
This book is turning in to the one I have always looked for, describing a neglected form of self-expression in all its rich variety. The experience of collaborating with so many of my idols — R. Crumb, Chris Ware, James Jean, James Kochalka, Elwood Smith, and lots of others — and so many friends — Tommy Kane, Roz, Stendhal, Kate Johnson, Keri Smith, Kurt Holloman, Trevor Romain and scores more — has been exhilarating too…"
[Pictured: Amanda Kavanagh's workspace. From Danny Gregory's new book, "An Illustrated Life"]
