Florent Chavouet's new travelogue artbook Manabeshima Island Japan is just as charming as his first, Tokyo on Foot. Chavouet is back in Japan and this time on this particular lesser known island called Manabeshima.

This book is similarly rendered in coloured pencils with painstaking details. The narrative is a collection of his adventures and interaction with locals. He drew in and outside of their homes, the different types of fish, dishes, street cats, festivals, wildlife and of course the different people he met.

The pages can either have interesting events that happen, or just a rendition of a particular scene or themed sketch. The artwork is beautiful and accompanied by handwritten observations. The amount of detail on each page made me look longer and closer just so that I won't miss anything. Some of the drawings are quite intricate and I found myself studying how they were drawn in coloured pencils.

Right at the back of the book is a pullout map of the neighbourhood he stays in, and you can see where all his friends live on the island. The poster size drawing is impressive.

It's a lovely book that looks at island life from a whimsical point of view. I recommend this to those who love sketchbooks, travelogues and journaling.

Manabeshima Island Japan: One Island, Two Months, One Minicar, Sixty Crabs, Eighty Bites and Fifty Shots of Shochu is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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Artist's Sketchbook feels very much like a sequel to Cathy Johnson's earlier book Artist's Journal Workshop.

This 128-page paperback is sort of like an introduction to sketching. It's not a structured course, but it has lots of tips relating to sketching. In particular, it focuses on the different types of subjects you can draw, and provides tips for those subjects. Unlike other urban sketching books, this book has slightly more coverage on nature, especially with examples on landscapes, animals, plants. There are also examples on buildings, architecture details but to a lesser extent although there's a chapter on it because it's sort of an unavoidable topic nowadays.

There are also short one page demonstrations that show you the process of how a coloured sketch is created.

Another thing I like are the many wonderful sketches included by artists such as Don Low, Shari Blaukopf, Nina Johansson, and many more including Cathy Johnson herself.

Overall, I think it's a nice book on sketching with examples that show you the fun you can have by sketching. This book is about sketching on location, and it challenges you to do so, so that you can have something nice to look at when back at home.

Artist's Sketchbook: Exercises and Techniques for Sketching on the Spot is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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Paris Je T'aime is one of several sketchbooks from Lapin in 2016. The other two are Modernisme Beyond Gaudí and Barcelona - An Urban Sketchbook which I will review when they come out eventually.

Lapin used to live in Paris as a kid. Then he moved to Barcelona and after ten years, he went back to Paris for a month to sketch. This 120-page sketchbook collects the sketches from his trip.

His characteristic style of using technical pens, subdued colours and old accountant books is still in full force. The sketches are wonderful. Not all the sketches are available on his blog so getting this sketchbook is the best to see them all.

At the time of this writing, the book is cheaper on Book Depository than Amazon USA.

Paris Je T'aime is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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Check out Brenda Swenson's beautiful art in her Stillman & Birn sketchbooks.

Here's another delightful sketchbook by Mike Daikubara. He likes to self publish these little sketchbooks of his trips, and there's also one just on hotel room sketches.

This time, he travels to Old San Juan in Puerto Rico. This is a travelogue sketchbook collecting his sketches and thoughts. Altogether, he made 35 sketches for the 4 days he spent there.

I like travelogues and I enjoyed reading all about his adventures and also about the place.

The downside is, this book is really thin at 38 pages. It's not that expensive, but it's too thin and left me wanting more.

Urban Sketching Old San Juan - Puerto Rico is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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Check out Mattias Adolfsson's Sketchbook #31.

His printed sketchbooks are:

• The Third in Line
• The Second in Line
• Mattias Unfiltered
• The First in Line

Basheer Graphic Books is back with another volume of Sketching Times. The first volume was published in 2015. The books are based on the Chinese sketchbooks of the same name, just that Basheer has acquired the rights to publish the books themselves.

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

The artists featured are

1. Ma Keda
2. Pink77
3. X2R
4. Qian Hao
5. Zhu Weiqiang aka Mr Cat
6. Freemanzx
7. Zhou Yang
8. Qu Daian
9. Bearis
10. Peter Syu
11. Ren Ming aka DeoR
12. Wang Yi aka WMM
13. Su Haitao
14. Golo
15. Du Yu
16. Siji
17. Ding Daxue
18. Lin Kunhao aka Sad Cosmos
19. Xu Tianhua
20. Geroge Guo
21. Lian Yi
22. Ma Yi
23. Yang Jialun aka Dirty Iron
24. Zeeko
25. Zhang Yuan aka Gino

I only know one artist from the list. There are too many talent from the Chinese artist community.

The sketches are wonderful. The only text you'll see are short interviews with each artist. Contact and websites are included for some artists.

For those in Singapore, the book retails at SGD $35 which is currently USD $26 not including shipping.

Sketching Times 2: Inspiration from Artists Sketch Collections is also available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

If you like sketchbooks, also check out the following:

• ImagineFX sketchbook
• Sketching from the Imagination: Fantasy
• Sketching from the Imagination: An Insight into Creative Drawing
• Everything Is Its Own Reward: An All Over Coffee Collection
• And many more

This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook.

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Here are direct links to the book:
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This book was borrowed from Basheer Graphic Books for review purposes. You can order the book from them. Check with Basheer on Facebook.

This is a rather niche book targeted at sketchers in Barcelona. I guess it's another book to ride on the popularity of the urban sketching movement.

The book presents 5 routes in Barcelona that has significant history and invites its readers to check out those places and sketch them in the book. At the start of each route is a map with interesting locations highlighted. And the next few pages feature partially completed sketches that invite you to draw on the empty spaces. Captions that talk about the places are written in Spanish and English.

This book reminds me of sticker books where you have to collect all the stickers to complete the book. Here, you have to visit all the places and draw them to complete the book. It certainly a fun way to go about discovering Barcelona.

So this isn't really a sketchbook unless you complete it yourself. Paper quality of the book is suited for pen, ink and pencil or coloured pencils. Water medium, paint and markers are not going to work well.

The text and city plans are from Jordi Carreras. The black and white line art are from Jordina Bartolome. Lapin provided a few colour illustrations and the cover art.

Overall, it's an interesting concept for the book. However, those who will enjoy it are limited to sketchers located or traveling to Barcelona.

Barcelona: Five Routes for Sketching Travelers (Sketching on Location) is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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Here's the companion workbook for Danny Gregory's earlier book Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to be More Creative No Matter How Busy You Are. That book provides a very basic guide to drawing and also ideas on what to draw. This workbook provides even more prompts and invites you to draw on the pages. The book's able to open flat to draw on.

This is one of those fun books for those who want to draw something but don't know what. There are no more excuses now. The activities are simple enough to follow along. There are suggestions on where you can draw, different themes, and also inspiring stories to get you going.

It's a nice book that want to help you develop a creative habit. And it's not too expensive.

For more inspiration, check out Danny Gregory's other books, and also the following:

• Playing with Sketches
• Freehand: Sketching Tips and Tricks Drawn from Art
• Just Draw It!
• Keys to Drawing with Imagination
• Sketch!: The Non-Artist's Guide to Inspiration, Technique, and Drawing Daily Life

Art Before Breakfast: The Workbook is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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In recent years, I've seen so many books on sketchbooks and sketching being published. And here's another that talks about sketchbooks.

Keeping Sketchbooks explores why people keep sketchbooks and the things that people write or draw in them. The author is Martin Ursell, an illustrator that I've not heard of. Many of the featured artists in this book are also unknown to me, which is a good thing because I've seen so many familiar faces from the Urban Sketchers group being featured in books that it's started to get a bit... boring.

This book starts by talking about how you can choose a sketchbook and the things to look out for, the variety of sketchbooks that are out there. Then it goes into what you can fill it with. There are how-to-draw instructions. This book is like an introductory guide to sketchbooks.

The later chapters focus on specific types of sketchbooks, such as use for reportage, travel journaling, collecting random thoughts and imagery, and using it for professional use, to improve yourself. The writeup is insightful, fun to read, and there are several artist interviews.

The artists featured are

1. Peter Thomas
2. Phil Carter
3. Ben Hendy
4. Debra McFarlane
5. Aldous Eveleigh
6. James Oses
7. George Butler
8. Joanna Wilson
9. Cornelia O'Donovan
10. Andrew Baker
11. Donald Sammut
12. Daniel Haskett
13. Pradita Gurung
14. Paul Barritt
15. Jake Abrams

If you have been sketching or have kept sketchbooks for years, then perhaps the book has nothing new to offer. But if you like reading about sketchbooks and about artists who keep them, then it's still a good book to get.

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

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Barcelona Original is actually the English edition of Barcelona M'Inspira which was published in 2013.

Compared to the Spanish edition, there are some new sketches features, such as those drawn in 2015, however, some pieces are also dropped to fit into this 120-page paperback sketchbook. On the first page, there's a map of Barcelona with some locations highlighted. When I compared it against the earlier book, I see that there are new locations as well as locations that are no longer featured.

The other difference is the scanned pages have been colour corrected to have white pages rather than the slightly yellowish tone used in the earlier book. The sketches in this book look brighter as a result of the whiter pages.

Lapin is a prolific urban sketcher and this sketchbook is a tour de force. It's filled with lots of wonderful watercolour sketches drawn on old school accounting books. It's very inspiring. I've several of his sketchbooks and have said many good things about them. The same applies here.

Highly recommended to all who loves sketchbooks and sketching.

Barcelona Original: The Sketching Lover’s Companion (Sketching on Location) is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) and Book Depository

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Ciao Firenze! is the second sketchbook of Alvin Mark Tan. Alvin's a friend of mine from the Urban Sketchers Singapore group.

He's from Singapore but sold all his stuff here in order to study art in Italy. Ciao Firenze! collects some of the sketches he has drawn while studying in Florence. Most are black and white sketches but there are some watercolour pieces as well, and also some paintings from his art lessons.

Below are some pages. If you want to get the book, you can contact Alvin.

You can follow him on his blog too.

Today, I looked at my shelf and saw a book I could not recognise and also can't remember who sent it to me. If it's you, thank you very much.

This is a 108-page square format paperback sketchbook released by Colectivo Tajalapiz.

The book features a collection of doodles and sketches by several artists. Some styles are cartoony while others are realistic renderings. The tools used are black and white medium, such as ink and pencil. I like the variety of art showcased. It's a nice sketchbook that makes me wish that I can draw as much as was shown.

For those who want to get the book or find out the price, you can email colectivotajalapiz@gmail.com.

Here are some pictures from the book.

Artists whose work are included are

• Andrea Castro
• Andres Pinzon
• Camilo Garcia
• Guillermo Garcia
• Carolina Rodriguez
• David Cleves
• David Navia
• Felix Riano
• Camilo Grillo
• Felipe Velaquez
• Graceina Samosir
• Andres Kal
• Luisa Beltran
• Nicolas Uribe
• Maria Fernanda Romero
• Natalia Rojas
• Rodolfo Rodriguez
• Gabriel Aguilar
• Arturo Gutierrez
• Nicolas Licht
• Ana Maria Ospina
• Felipe Machado
• William Chajin
• Maria Isabel Lopez
• Sebastian Kowoll

Nepal The Art Book is a visual travelogue hand drawn by Bernat Moreno. He contacted me in late 2015 to let me know of his Kickstarter campaign to produce this book.

I backed his Kickstarter campaign for a copy and it's finally here, a year later. It's worth the wait because this travelogue sketchbook is wonderful.
Unfortunately, the book is only available not sold outside of Kickstarter. There's a ebook version that you can download though.

This 116-page hardcover book is like a medium sized sketchbook. It features the sketches drawn with pen, ink and watercolour. The presentation style is like a comic book with panels. The panels are scenes from his trip, presented chronologically. Moreno has also provided captions talking about his experience traveling in Nepal, moving from places to places. It's an interesting read.

The artworks are wonderful. I love the details and could really sense the liveliness of the place. The pictures and text provide a nice intimate glimpse into Nepal and the way of live of the people there.

Producing a book is not easy. Traveling to a totally different country to stay for a long period of time just to produce a hand drawn travelogue like this is not easy. Kudos to his dedication and effort for making this happen.

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

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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

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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

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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 the sketchbook that I bought in Manchester during last year's Urban Sketchers Symposium. It's a wonderful sketchbook with beautiful sketches by the urban sketchers. It really brings back memories of my trip there.

I'm not sure where you can get the book. Try asking the good folks at Urban Sketchers Manchester.