Book Review: My Year in Small Drawings: Notice, Draw, Appreciate by Matilda Tristram

When I bought this book, I thought it was a sketchbook filled with sketches. That's actually just half of the book, the other half are empty pages you can draw on.

This is a small palm-sized 240-page paperback authored by Matilda Tristram, an author and illustrator based in London.

The first thing I noted when flipping through the pages is the paper quality is fantastic. The paper used is matte, smooth and cream-coloured. The binding allows you to open the book flat and the stitching looks durable.

Collected within the book are plenty of ideas that you can draw. As the title of the book suggests, the author wants you to draw small, so that you can draw more. That's actually quite a good idea to help you practice drawing variety of subjects. There's an idea and prompt for every 2-4 pages, and the text is accompanied by a blank page that's divided into 9 small square boxes. You're supposed to fit your drawing in the small boxes.

You can use the examples that Tristram has provided to give yourself a kickstart. The drawing examples provided are all drawing with coloured pencils and even though they are small, they look great. Sometimes there is beauty in simplicity and I think it is the case here. So while you draw, you also get to practice how you can simplify the subjects that you're drawing, and also see how the Tristram has simplified hers.

Since this is a rather small book, it's extremely portable and you can bring it along with you easily. I'm sure you will fill very satisfied and accomplished once you filled up the book. It's a really fun activity and drawing book. It does not cost too much so it's quite worth the money.

My Year in Small Drawings: Notice, Draw, Appreciate is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

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