Books

There are many wonderful books that can help take your journaling to another level, we have recommended some that will show you different techniques and give you a glimpse into many inspiring journals. Click on the links below to go direct to the listing, or read more about our featured book:-

Featured book

An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory

Amazon Best of the Month, December 2008: Danny Gregory’s An Illustrated Life is a visual delight of color and texture–a funky and frenetic “book about books people have made,” perfect for chronic doodlers, journalers, and art lovers. Sharing vibrant excerpts from the notebooks of 50 illustrators, artists, and designers, each accompanied by an introduction by the artist, it’s a gorgeous, intimate exploration of the creative process. Gregory’s passion for the “illustrated journal” is infectious–for him, artist’s sketchbooks represent a nonthreatening place to record “risks, mistakes, regrets, thoughts, lessons, and dreams.” Whether you are charmed by the illustrations of Amanda Kavanagh, or intimidated by the musings of Stefan Sagmeister, poring over this eclectic group of fledgling and famous “artists” will inspire you to tackle an illustrated journal of your own.

View Danny’s Podcast on his book -

Some reviews from Amazon -

Reviewed by W.Polm – A Fascinating look into the lives of artists, December 17, 2008
I have read this book from cover to cover and enjoyed every minute, a lot.
This is a treasure. Ever wonder how artists work in their sketchbooks and how sketch books contribute to their lives and art? Here, then, if your book.

I have long been an advocate for sketchbooking. Anyone involved in making art, pretty-much art of any kind, should keep one and work in it frequently, if not daily. And this is certainly true of people who draw and sketch and paint. To me, no better way to get better!

But back to this book: Fascinating. You know what I found interesting? Not so much how these creative folks did things differently but instead how often they do things the same. Many like bound sketchbooks because they are unavoidably sequential, chronological, one page relating if you want to the next one. It’s also hard to lose a drawing out of a bound book, as can so easily happen if the drawing is on a loose sheet of paper. A whole bunch refuse to tear out of their bound books a drawing or sketch that turns out sour–bad drawings are part of the story and good to learn from. Almost all of them pointed out how sketching a scene was superior to just photographing it because sketching involves them in the scene so much more deeply, because they remember so much more of it that way. And, so much more.

Well, I took notes. So many good ideas I want to incorporate in my own sketching. By the way, a lot of eye-candy too!
Highly recommended to everyone interested in art.

Reviewed by kitjank – Danny Does it again!, December 13, 2008
Once again Danny Gregory has inspired me in new ways. This book is a feast for the eyes, artist and non-artist alike. I haven’t really “read” any of it, but with a book like this you don’t need to. One look at any of the pages and you can instantly tell what inspired this person at that moment. They have shared something very personal and that in itself is pretty inspiring. I draw everyday, but don’t really keep a sketchbook of my day to day activities, but after looking through this book many times, I may start.

Reviewed by Laurita Casita – AWESOME!!! , December 13, 2008
Danny Gregory is the human and virtual (www.dannygregory.com) link for all of us who aspire to artistry and preserving memories. If you keep a journal, or want to; If you draw, or would like to; If you’d like to see how fifty gifted people record their thoughts, dreams, visions and feelings then this a book that will touch your heart. I had pre-ordered mine and it finally arrived yesterday. I planned to savor it after I had my kids in the bed, but they asked about it, so I explained: Mommie’s not the only one who keeps a drawing journal… blah blah. In five minutes they had paper and pencil out and they were absorbed in their drawings. Beautiful!!

Reviewed by J.Grossman – Love it….If only I could read it!, December 20, 2008
I love the concept of this book. It’s truly an inspiration for anybody who is into sketchbook journals. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the segment written by each artist about their process, techniques, materials, and what they find valuable in sketching and journaling. So, you can imagine how disappointed I was to find that the type size for these articles is so small that it’s a struggle to read them. Instead of sitting down with the book for an hour or so at the end of a long day, I crawl my way through it one segment at a time, straining with the tiny font size and tiring quickly. I understand that it would have taken many more pages to have expanded the size, but I’d rather pay more for a larger book and be able to read it. I hope that if this print run sells out, it will be reprinted with a larger font size.

Buy Danny’s books here -