The first sketchbook that really stood out to me the most was one of the first ones that I looked at, made by Tianyi Guo from Baltimore. The book starts with the front cover title written in silver marker, “The Diary.” I liked this sketchbook because each spread had a unique voice and style to it, covering a variety of subject matter all with humorous undertones and by using a variety of mediums. You never knew what the next page would hold which was part of the reason it was so captivating to me. I loved the different drawing styles that were used to tell the message of the artist’s day or mood, something I too am interested in.
Another sketchbook that stood out to me was the work of Kimoko Fukube who made the sketchbook titled, “Unintended Cat Pilgrimage.” I found myself drawn most to the people who used a large variety of mediums in the sketchbooks and took risks with combining mediums. I liked the ‘travel journal’ approach to this book a lot and was impressed by the cohesiveness of each of the spreads–as well as the whole book when looking through it–despite the different scrapbooking techniques and mediums used by the artist. I think the uses of red and white substantially more than other colors helped to keep the book cohesive. The humorous theme of the cat throughout the sketchbook was intriguing to me as well.
Another sketchbook that interested me was by Alberto Pazzi. His use of illustrations and humor throughout the sketchbook was unique to the other sketchbooks that I looked at (and I looked at so many of them). I took pictures of a lot of the pages in his book because of how clever they were, while still remaining technically well-done and different from one another. One of his illustrations, that was probably my favorite, was a drawing of Pope Francis with the headline, “Pope Francis is Cool,” with an illustration underneath it of Pope Francis sticking his thumb up and smiling. Under the illustration is a quote about punk music that is attributed to Pope Francis saying it. The book mostly, if not only, used dry mediums and drawings/illustrations, yet it was incredibly captivating from start to finish.
