Book Review: How to Keep a Sketchbook Journal

The book is not as detailed or insightful as I hope it would be.

Author and artist Claudia Nice has written many good watercolour books but this one is not by her usual better standards.

The chapters in the book are arranged by the different type of sketchbooks one can create, such as a journal dedicated to travel, everyday life, flora or fauna, and others. However, the content feels like it was taken from her other books and mixed together. The drawing tips don't really relate specifically to the subject of sketchbooks, and are actually more specific to the subjects being drawn, like animals, plants, etc. It seems more like here-are-some-notes-on-how-to-draw-animals-and-by-the-way-you-can-also-create-an-animal-theme-sketchbook.

In essence, this is more like a book of general drawing tips. There are some good tips, but they are often too brief. If you're learning to draw, I recommend getting Keys to Drawing instead.

If you're intend on creating themed sketchbooks, you can check out Watercolor Journeys: Create Your Own Travel Sketchbook or Urban Sketching: The Complete Guide to Techniques.

Her drawings and the art are great though. If you don't might snippets of tips, this is still not too bad a book. But overall, it's neither here nor there in terms of focus.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

How to Keep a Sketchbook Journal is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

Here's information on how to create a field kit to carry your drawing tools. It's nice bonus material but it's not relevant to the subject of the book and there are many examples in the book like this.

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