Illustrators' Sketchbooks: Inside the Creative Processes of 60 Iconic and Emerging Artists

Explore the creative process with iconic and emerging illustrators through selections from their sketchbooks.

This inspiring collection is an ode to the power and possibilities of the sketchbook. It features the journal pages of sixty artists from around the world and across history, including nostalgic favorites like Jean de Brunhoff, Tove Jansson, and Beatrix Potter and contemporary icons like Beatrice Alemagna, Oliver Jeffers, and Shaun Tan.

Curator Martin Salisbury draws on decades of experience as an illustrator and educator to shed light on the lives and work of each artist. A treasury of rough sketches, note-filled margins, collaged pages, color explorations, and thumbnail drawings reveals the importance of the journal in the artmaking process. Some sketchbooks are works of art in themselves, while others showcase playful ideas and happy accidents. This beautifully designed anthology offers readers a glimpse into the raw imagination at the heart of stories and characters treasured across generations.

INTERNATIONAL ROSTER OF ARTISTS: This collection includes the sketchbooks of a diverse range of illustrators hailing from the United States, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, and South Korea. In addition to the engaging work of newer illustrators like Takako Aoki and Victoria Tentler-Krylov, the book features famous artists like Hergé, Edward Gorey, and Tomi Ungerer and the sketches behind their iconic characters and stories.

RARELY-SEEN ART: Featuring private sketchbook pages, this book offers a fascinating look into the minds of illustrators and their boundless imaginations.

INSPIRING GIFT BOOK: This beautiful hardcover is a perfect gift for artists, illustrators, designers, and anyone interested in creative expression. It will inspire readers to explore the techniques of world-famous artists and embrace their own brainstorming process.

Perfect for:Artists, illustrators, and designersFans of classic and contemporary illustratorsCollectors of illustrated children’s booksReaders of beloved books by profiled illustrators, such as The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Story of Babar, Moomin, The Adventures of Tintin, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Day the Crayons Quit, The Arrival, Cyclops of Central Park, and many moreArt students and recent graduatesAnyone looking for creative inspiration

About the Author

Martin Salisburyis a professor of illustration at the Cambridge School of Art, where he designed and teaches on the renowned MA Children’s Book Illustration program. He has previously chaired the jury for the Ragazzi Award at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and has served on juries for numerous other international illustration awards. He is the author of several books on the practice and theory of illustration, including Children’s Picturebooks: The Art of Visual Storytelling (2012) and Drawing for Illustration (2022).