Friday, March 13, 2009

1,000 Journal Pages

If you keep a journal—or would like to—how can you resist a book with the title: 1,000 Artist Journal Pages? I knew I certainly couldn’t. Dawn DeVries Sokol had the mammoth task of organizing journal pages from 175 artists into a workable format. And the result? Wall-to-wall-eye candy.
While it is wonderful to see the pages produced by so many talented journalers, I found it hard to stay focused on the art because there’s just so much of it. The journal pages are lined up like soldiers, and there’s no text to give you a breather. I was also frustrated by the small size of most of the pictures because I wanted to see more detail.

But don’t let the lack of a dynamic presentation prevent you from buying this book. It’s worth owning simply because you’ll have a window into the wide range of journaling styles that are out there. I found by approaching 1,000 Artist Journal Pages as a survey, rather than an experience, I found plenty of stuff here to inspire me.

3 comments:

Leslie Jane Moran said...

I have been waiting to cobble together enough books to qualify for the free shipping at Amazon. This will likely put me over the top. I said I wasn't going to buy any more books until I'd finished the shelf I'm working on reading, but "reference" books are surely not in that category :) Always love your advice. Thanks.

beenebag said...

Have it!! Also, have you seen Danny Gregory's new book An Illustrated Life. Compilation of various artists journal pages...most are hand drawn. Very cool stuff.

Ronna said...

Thanks Susan. Intend to check it out!