For centuries artists and designers have recorded places, people, and life in travel sketchbooks. Over a period of fifty years, Laurie Olin, one of America's most distinguished landscape architects, has recorded aspects of France: its cities and countryside, streets and cafes, ancient ruins, vineyards, and parks--from humble to grand, things that interested his designer's eye--taking the time to see things carefully. Paris in its seasons, agriculture in Provence and Bordeaux, trees, dogs, and fountains, all are noted over the years in watercolor or pen and ink. Originally intended for the pleasure of merely being there as well as self-education, this personal selection from his many sketchbooks is accompanied by transcriptions of notes and observations, along with introductory remarks for the different regions included: Paris, Haute Loire, Provence, Haute Provence, Normandy, Aquitaine, and Entre des Meures.

From Sara Midda, the miniaturist whose first book nine years ago evoked all the pleasures of an English garden and received international acclaim, comes a wondrous sketch book from a year spent in the South of France--and artist's personal journal carried everywhere and crammed with drawings and notions and thoughts both surprising and whimsical.

Paris is seen through the eyes of artist Fabrice Moireau, with sketches in watercolor and pencil perfectly matched by an introduction by Mary A. Kelly. These residents of the world's most romantic capital city are the perfect guides to its streets, monuments, gardens and delightfully hidden corners.

Drawing activities, art instruction, and advice for artists and non-artists alike. Urban sketching--the process of drawing on the go as a regular practice--is a hot trend in the drawing world. It's also a practical necessity for creatively minded people in a busy world. In this aspirational guide, self-taught French artist France Belleville-Van Stone emboldens readers to craft a ritual of their own and devote more time to art, even if it's just 10 minutes a day. She offers motivation to move beyond the comfort zone, as well as instruction on turning rough sketches into finished work. Belleville Van-Stone learned how to draw through her own daily practice and knows first-hand how hard it is to find time to incorporate creativity into a busy life. She encourages and teaches us how to do it with advice and guidance such as: · An A-to-Z list of daily sketch prompts, from airports to bananas, faces to hands, meetings and workplaces · Tips on what drawing supplies you can and should have--and how to carry them around · Sections on accepting mistakes, drawing with limited resources, and redefining completion · Plusses and minuses of going digital, including apps, styluses, and brushes For those of us who dream of drawing in the minutes between school and work, bathtime and bedtime, and waking and walking out the door, the practical advice in Sketch! is a revelation. By sharing her own creative process, Belleville-Van Stone Sketch inspires artists both established and aspiring to rethink their daily practice, sketch for the pure joy of it, and document their lives and the world around them.

"In Rome there is no guide, only one's curiosity about places, monuments and sculptures, as unveiled in this collection of watercolours by Fabrice Moireau. According to Dominique Fernandez, "one must leave it to chance and wander aimlessly", because pleasure "is found where least expected". With only their quill and brush, the author and illustrator capture the different faces of Rome-Ancient Rome, Imperial Rome, rome of the Baroque, as well as modern Rome -- and invite us to discover the masterpieces of this "eternal city"."--P [4] of cover

The seventeenth-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza-also known as Benedict or Bento de Spinoza-spent the most intense years of his short life writing. He also carried with him a sketchbook. After his sudden death, his friends rescued letters, manuscripts, notes-but no drawings. For years, without knowing what its pages might hold, John Berger has imagined finding Bento's sketchbook, wanting to see the drawings alongside his surviving words. When one day a friend gave him a beautiful virgin sketchbook, Berger said, "This is Bento's!" and he began to draw, taking his inspiration from the philosopher's vision. In this illustrated color book John Berger uses the imaginative space he creates to explore the process of drawing, politics, storytelling and Spinoza's life and times.

Dispatched to America in the early ’60s, the golden age of illustrative reportage, Ronald Searle spent several years covering everything―in the form of drawings in his trademark satirical and virtuosic style―from sports to politics, for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and TV Guide. Topics included Palm Springs, Las Vegas, the Presidential contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon―as seen through the eyes of a caustic Englishman.

Blessed with a colourful history and temperate climate, Paris has a rich variety of gardens and a diverse range of flora. The history, aesthetics, design and botanical heritage of Parisian parks are brilliantly displayed in this book, in the watercolours

Explore the Loire Valley - famous for its splendid architecture and gardens - through the beautiful watercolours and sketches of renowned artist, Fabrice Moireau. ,