Here's another wonderful sketchbook by Fabrice Moireau. If you haven't seen his work, you should definitely check them out.

With this latest sketchbook, he covers Florence in Italy. As usual, there are lots of beautiful watercolour sketches of streets, architecture and scenes. I really do wonder what he does for a full time living. And if it's to travel and create artworks like this, I'm truly jealous.

This is definitely one of my favourite sketchbooks, just like many of his. Highly recommended.

I can't wait to see where's the next place he goes next.

Florence Sketchbook (Sketchbooks) is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

Here's a wonderful sketchbook by Claire Wendling from 2016.

It's a collection of fantasy character sketches, more specifically more of fairies and other female characters. It's almost like a figure drawing sketchbook. There's nudity so the book's probably not suitable for work.

I love the pencil sketches. They are so good. The characters all look so lively and the poses help a lot. The style is stylised but based on a very solid foundation of anatomy understanding. It's a style that's very suitable for animation.

This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook. The book's published by Stuart Ng Books so you can probably get a copy there too.

Special thanks to Eduardo Vieira for sending me a copy of his sketchbook Lovely Darkness Vol 2. I also have Vol 3 but I will feature than in another post in the future.

Eduardo Vieira is a freelance artist from Brazil. He has created art for games, advertising agencies and even children books. This sketchbook features his personal works. The artworks are mostly character art, fan art, and there are a few concept environment art too.

The sketchbook's A5 sized, paperback and has 72 pages. You can find it at http://eduardovieirart.bigcartel.com/

To check out more of Vieira's work, visit
https://eduardovieirart.tumblr.com/
http://eduardovieira.deviantart.com/
https://www.facebook.com/eduardovieirart/
https://www.instagram.com/eduardovieirart/
https://www.behance.net/eduardovieirart

This is the third sketchbook released by Jason Brooks, an artist, illustrator and author based in Brighton, England. The earlier two are Paris Sketchbook (2013) and London Sketchbook (2015). I've seen some page previews before but never actually gotten hold of a physical copy until now.

New York Sketchbook is a 160-page hardcover with a cloth bound spine. The book features beautiful artworks of different aspects of New York, such as the buildings, streets, people, fashion, food and transport.

While it's supposed to be a sketchbook, the artworks are actually created with a variety of media. Some are drawn with pencils or coloured pencils, other with brush pens, watercolour, and some are obviously created digitally. Despite the different media used, all the artworks have a cohesive look and feel to them. Some of the sketches are simple, while others are more elaborate, like cityscape scene art.

What I like most about the art is the liveliness of the city that's captured. Each artwork is like a snapshot of a classic New York scene. I also enjoy the short captions that read like travelogue entries.

This is a lovely artbook for those who love sketchbooks, New York or just art.

-

This review copy is provided by book seller and distributor APD Singapore (website | facebook). You can get the book from them and major bookstores in Southeast Asia.

New York Sketchbook is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

This review copy is provided by book seller and distributor APD Singapore (website | facebook). You can get the book from them and major bookstores in Southeast Asia.

This book features some artists who enjoy challenging themselves to improve.

The concept was to create a line art each day. It started out as a fun exercise and someone thought why not make it a book. And here we have that book.

This book is more of a sketchbook. The artworks featured are line art, of course, mainly of human characters, some creatures, and very few environment. With the exception of a few with some tones added, the rest are black and white line drawings, done mostly in ink, some pencil.

The artworks look great. Some are refined, very clean, while others are sketchy, but the form is always clear. The artworks are grouped according to the artists and there are 15 featured. They are

• Even Mehl Amundsen
• Mike Azevedo
• Joshua Cairos
• Isra Carrion
• Ross Grams
• Jenny Harder
• Suzanne Helmigh
• Beth Hobbs
• Alex Negrea
• Dibujante Nocturno
• Long Pham
• Rafater
• Maxim Verehin
• Sebastian Wagner
• James Wu

There's no theme so we don't get to see artists interpret the same subject. At times it feels random. The variety is good, although I sense that most look like they can appear as video games characters. I like the ones that are more suited for animation because I like the caricature style, form and simplicity.

There's not a lot of text. Each artist only has a paragraph of quote included. Their websites are listed so you can check out more of their artworks.

Overall, it's a nice sketchbook packed with wonderful line art. There would have been more depth to the book if the artists could talk more about their art because the book has some white space to fill.

If you like sketchbooks, check out all the other sketchbooks I've featured so far on the blog.

The Line Art Challenge: 100 sketches for 100 days is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

Here's a wonderful sketchbook by Kerby Rosanes, an illustrator based in Manila, Philippines. He's known in the doodling community for his cute and intricate drawings.

This 128-page sketchbook is designed to look like those Moleskine sketchbooks with those rounded corners and elastic bands.

I've seen Kerby Rosanes art before and I like the style. All the sketches in this book are arranged chronologically, starting with the first doodle in 2012 that got his name out there. This sketchbook collects over 4 years of work so you can see how he has evolved.

The art is not all cute. There are serious pieces as well, but drawn in his characteristically detailed style. I like the ideas for some pieces, and how he plays with the lines, light and dark. There aren't a lot of text except for the introduction and foreword.

Downside of the book is some artworks are printed across the gutter and they don't look as good with that vertical line in the middle. The binding of this book is good so the pages can be laid out rather flat so it's probably not a big deal. At least there are no misalignment issues for artworks so detailed so that's a good thing.

It's a wonderful and inspiring book for those into doodling and sketching. It's definitely worth the price and this sketchbook is very affordable!

If you like this book, check out Mattias Adolfsson's sketchbooks too.

Sketchy Stories: The Sketchbook Art of Kerby Rosanes is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

This is the fourth book in the Sketching from the Imagination series. The earlier three were on creative drawing, fantasy and sci-fi.

All the good things that I've said for the other books apply here as well. This is yet another wonderful addition that's packed with lots of beautiful and awesome sketches. 50 artists are featured in this thick 320-page paperback artbook.

All the artworks in this book are original character creations, drawn in a huge variety of styles. There are characters drawn from simple line art, intricate sketching, bold black ink, pencils, pens and lots of styles from the cartoony animated look to the serious realistic ones.

It's inspiring to go through all the wonderful work. Each artist also has a short profile provided talking about themselves, their work and inspiration. You can also check out more of their art on their websites which are also provided.

If you like sketchbooks or character designs, this is the book to get.

Also check out these other titles if you love sketching or sketchbooks:

• Sketching from the Imagination: An Insight into Creative Drawing
• Sketching from the Imagination: Fantasy
• ImagineFX Sketchbook
• Sketching Times series
• KATSUYA TERADA 10 TEN - 10 Years Retrospective -
• Mattias Unfiltered: The Sketchbook Art of Mattias Adolfsson
• Kim Jung-Gi 2007 & 2011 Sketch Collection
• Kim Jung-Gi 2013 Sketch Collection
• The First in Line
• Sketch Book for the Artist
• The Daily Zoo
• 0レンジ(オレンジ)~森本晃司作品集~ (Orange / Koji Morimoto / Scrapbook)
• All other sketchbooks

Sketching from the Imagination: Characters is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

Special thanks to Lorenzo Etherington for sending me this humongous 600-page sketchbook. The sketchbook was originally put on Kickstarter and the campaign was successful with 174 backers.

The book a 8.5 by 8.5 inches paperback. The purchase link points to Lulu.com so this looks like a print-on-demand book. The paper used is the copier type paper and the binding looks good. Shipping for the book is not going to be cheap because it's a heavy book. It's currently selling at USD $35 and for 600 pages I think it's worth the money.

The sketchbook collects 4 years of work from 2010. There are designs for characters, props, creatures, vehicles and buildings. The style is comic-style line art with a strong sense of caricature and whimsical touch. The art is beautiful and when you're looking at such a thick volume, it's awe-inspiring.

If you're someone who likes sketchbooks, comic art, 2D animation style art, you should check out this book.

And if you like thick sketchbooks like this, be sure to check out Kim Jung Gi's sketchbooks> and the Sketching from the imagination series.

Thanks to Mehdi, a viewer of my Youtube channel, for giving me this book.

Alger is the French name for Algiers, the capital of Algeria, North Africa.

This hardcover watercolour sketchbook features Algiers and the architecture. There are text that accompanies the artworks but I don't know what language they are written in.

Catherine Rossi's watercolour sketches are lovely. They are loose, vibrant and captures life in the city well. It seems like a seaside city as there are many scenes near the harbour and waterfront. The architecture is also interesting as I was told by Mehdi that Algeria was part of the French colonisation (1830–1962) and that period left behind some really beautiful buildings, just like how you can find Portugal or European style architecture in Macau.

This book was published in 2008. There's no ISBN number so I don't know where you can find the book online.

Here are some pages from the book.

Here's another wonderful sketchbook by Fabrice Moireau. If you haven't seen his work, you should definitely check them out.

With this latest sketchbook, he covers Florence in Italy. As usual, there are lots of beautiful watercolour sketches of streets, architecture and scenes. I really do wonder what he does for a full time living. And if it's to travel and create artworks like this, I'm truly jealous.

This is definitely one of my favourite sketchbooks, just like many of his. Highly recommended.

I can't wait to see where's the next place he goes next.

Florence Sketchbook (Sketchbooks) is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

Here's a wonderful sketchbook by Claire Wendling from 2016.

It's a collection of fantasy character sketches, more specifically more of fairies and other female characters. It's almost like a figure drawing sketchbook. There's nudity so the book's probably not suitable for work.

I love the pencil sketches. They are so good. The characters all look so lively and the poses help a lot. The style is stylised but based on a very solid foundation of anatomy understanding. It's a style that's very suitable for animation.

This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook. The book's published by Stuart Ng Books so you can probably get a copy there too.

Special thanks to Eduardo Vieira for sending me a copy of his sketchbook Lovely Darkness Vol 2. I also have Vol 3 but I will feature than in another post in the future.

Eduardo Vieira is a freelance artist from Brazil. He has created art for games, advertising agencies and even children books. This sketchbook features his personal works. The artworks are mostly character art, fan art, and there are a few concept environment art too.

The sketchbook's A5 sized, paperback and has 72 pages. You can find it at https://eduardovieirart.bigcartel.com/

To check out more of Vieira's work, visit
https://eduardovieirart.tumblr.com/
https://eduardovieira.deviantart.com/
https://www.facebook.com/eduardovieirart/
https://www.instagram.com/eduardovieirart/
https://www.behance.net/eduardovieirart

This is the third sketchbook released by Jason Brooks, an artist, illustrator and author based in Brighton, England. The earlier two are Paris Sketchbook (2013) and London Sketchbook (2015). I've seen some page previews before but never actually gotten hold of a physical copy until now.

New York Sketchbook is a 160-page hardcover with a cloth bound spine. The book features beautiful artworks of different aspects of New York, such as the buildings, streets, people, fashion, food and transport.

While it's supposed to be a sketchbook, the artworks are actually created with a variety of media. Some are drawn with pencils or coloured pencils, other with brush pens, watercolour, and some are obviously created digitally. Despite the different media used, all the artworks have a cohesive look and feel to them. Some of the sketches are simple, while others are more elaborate, like cityscape scene art.

What I like most about the art is the liveliness of the city that's captured. Each artwork is like a snapshot of a classic New York scene. I also enjoy the short captions that read like travelogue entries.

This is a lovely artbook for those who love sketchbooks, New York or just art.

-

This review copy is provided by book seller and distributor APD Singapore (website | facebook). You can get the book from them and major bookstores in Southeast Asia.

New York Sketchbook is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

This review copy is provided by book seller and distributor APD Singapore (website | facebook). You can get the book from them and major bookstores in Southeast Asia.

I've really enjoyed all the sketching related books that 3DTotal Publishing has put out so far, and Masters of Sketching is no exception.

In this 272-page thick paperback, you'll see lots of different styles and variety of sketches from various artists. Some sketches are, erm, sketchy while some can be really refined.

Highlight of the book is the creative process that's featured alongside the artist's work. There are step by step pictures and captions that show you what goes on in the artist's mind as the sketch was made. That's followed by a brief gallery of the artist's other works.

This book's filled with the rawness and spontaneous creativity that's associated with sketches and sketchbooks. Overall, it's a beautiful and insightful book.

The artists featured in this book are

• Patrick Ballesteros
• Paride Bertolin
• Mike Corriero
• Tom Fox
• Eliza Ivanova
• Zoe Keller
• Kikyz1313
• Abigail Larson
• Sean Layh
• Larry MacDougall
• Jeremy Mann
• Christina Mrozik
• Jim Pavelec
• Bobby Rebholz
• Kirill Semenov
• Annie Stegg Gerard
• Ania Tomicka
• Eduardo Vieira
• Colie Wertz
• Sam Wolfe Connelly

Masters of Sketching is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

Dare to Sketch is a fun and casual book about drawing with your sketchbook, bringing it around, looking for interesting subjects to draw.

The book is written by Felix Scheinberger, who’s an illustrator and designer from Germany.

This book is actually translated from the German edition Mut Zum Skizzenbuch that was published in 2009. I had bought the German edition because I loved the loose and colourful sketches of Felix Scheinberger. His drawings are lovely and have a child-like feel to them.

So now that the book is in English, I can finally understand the content.

This book explores the fun of keeping a sketchbook and drawing. There are tips on what you can draw, tools and drawing supplies that you can use and basic techniques on making your sketch look more lively and dimensional. All the tips are practical and easy to adopt in practice.

The tone used throughout is encouraging and motivating. It’s certainly a book that I can refer to repeatedly in the future, especially for the beautiful artworks.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves to draw.

Dare to Sketch: A Guide to Drawing on the Go is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

Travels with my Sketchbook is a 320-page thick hardcover that collects the sketches made by Chris Riddell during his time as Children’s Laureate (2015 - 2017). The Children’s Laureate award is given out every 2 years in UK to celebrate the outstanding contribution of a writer or illustrator of children books. You can think of this book as a personal journal of Chris Riddell over the last two years.

Chris Riddell is a very accomplished British illustrator who works as a political cartoonist at The Observer. He also draws from the Literary Review.

In this book, you’ll see lots of sketches, doodles, posters, political cartoons and some extracts from the Laureate Log, a daily record of his time as Laureate. It’s an intimate view of his life behind the scenes. You get to see the people he interacts with, the work he does and the ideas and drafts he draws out to brainstorm for his illustration work. This is like a-sketch-day type of journal. The drawings are wonderful. There are those drawn very simply as well as beautifully coloured and refined illustrations.

Fans of Chris Riddell will find exceptional delight with the book. Those who love journal style sketchbooks can also check it out.

Travels with my Sketchbook is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com

A few months ago, I backed another one of Bernat Moreno’s sketchbook on Kickstarter. That book has finally arrived.

Oliva Illustrated Guide is Bernat Moreno’s second sketchbook that was successfully funded on Kickstarter. I had backed for a copy and it has finally arrived.

This sketchbook is presented in travelogue style, just like his earlier sketchbook on Nepal.

Oliva is a town in the Valencia Community of Spain. From what I’ve read in this book, Oliva is not a very touristy place. It’s a laid back, quiet and idyllic town.

The sketches feature different areas of the town, the beautiful European town houses, food, people, squares, the beachfront and the nature. The pen and ink watercolour sketches are wonderful and really brings out the serene feel of the place, a place where people can enjoy a quiet walk anytime of the day.

This hardcover book has 118 pages and it’s about A5 size. The text is written in Spanish and English, However, not all the text are translated to Engish.

Even though the Kickstarter campaign is over, the book is still available for purchase through Bernat Moreno’s website. There’s also a free ebook version available for download. I do recommend getting a copy of the book because it is worth the money and you also support the artist.

Anne Desmet RA is an artist who works with wood engravings, linocuts and mixed-media collages. This book that she has published is quite different from her work and features her personal travel sketches of Italy.

This is a small palm-sized hardcover with 120-pages. Collected within are sketches made during her several trips to Italy. There’s even a map at the beginning of the book that documents her journey, but there’s no other text in the book other than the introduction.

The artworks featured are sketches created mostly with watercolour, pencil, pen and ink, and other media. Sometimes the sketches could just be tonal value studies but other times they are fully coloured. I believe the size of her original sketchbook is not too big because the sketches use a lot of simplification.

The artworks are lovely. I enjoy the different landscapes and architecture captured. Italy is a very beautiful country. After looking at the sketches, I’ve to list Italy as one of the countries I have to visit in the future.

This is a lovely book for anyone who likes sketching and sketchbooks.

-

This review copy is provided by book seller and distributor APD Singapore (website | facebook). You can get the book from them and major bookstores in Southeast Asia.

Anne Desmet: An Italian Journey is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn | Bookdepository.com