Illustration

5 Sketchbook Styles That Will Inspire You

Get to know five artists who use the sketchbook as an expressive tool

A sketchbook is a powerful tool for all established artists and for people who are exploring their artistic vocation. A sketchbook is a collection of ideas, experiences, practices, projects, notes, and everything else that comes to an artist’s mind.

We put together a list of five artists with very different styles, whose sketchbooks will undoubtedly inspire you. They found their inspiration in personal experiences, on their travels, in fiction, by observing nature or through introspection.

José Naranja

This Spanish illustrator, who trained as an aviation engineer, creates beautiful handmade books that cannot be categorized by one discipline alone: they are a mix of calligraphy, graphic design, illustration, and a travel journal.

He started the activity he likes to call ‘journaling’ about 15 years ago, and the process always begins with the creation of the sketchbook itself.

José Naranja
José Naranja
José Naranja
José Naranja

Dina Brodsky

The American miniature artist, curator, and contemporary art painter works as an art teacher and has exhibited her work in several galleries. She started using sketchbooks aged 18, and today she combines detailed notes with illustrations and watercolor drawings. She also researches the work of other sketchbook artists.

Dina Brodsky
Dina Brodsky
Dina Brodsky
Dina Brodsky
Dina Brodsky
Dina Brodsky

Mattias Adolfsson (@mattiasadolfsson)

Among his clients, this Swedish-born freelance illustrator can list The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, and Disney. His sketchbooks are characterized by the intricate details of the wonderful settings he creates, depicting scenes that belong to daily life and fantastic worlds, inhabited by amazing characters. He teaches the Domestika course The Art of Sketching: Transform Your Doodles into Art.

Mattias Adolfsson
Mattias Adolfsson
Mattias Adolfsson
Mattias Adolfsson
Mattias Adolfsson
Mattias Adolfsson

Kerby Rosanes

Illustrator and graphic designer based in the Philippines, he illustrates his world of doodles working mainly in black and white using fineliners, inks, and marker pens. His sketchbooks, which he started to create as a hobby, became a real source of work after the illustration community began to recognize him.

Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes
Kerby Rosanes

Annie Perkins Rosenberg

American illustrator and artist, her work focuses on nature. Her books reflect what she perceives about people, plants, and animals through delicate lines and the concept of imperfection. She has coped with a chronic illness since childhood and finds a form of therapy in her art.

Annie Perkins Rosenberg
Annie Perkins Rosenberg
Annie Perkins Rosenberg
Annie Perkins Rosenberg
Annie Perkins Rosenberg
Annie Perkins Rosenberg

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