The artist’s sketchbook

Artists have been using sketchbooks for many hundreds of years, particularly as part of the preparatory process that leads to the creation of great works. Selected by curators from the extensive sketchbook collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and organised chronologically by artist, ‘The Artist’s Sketchbook’ introduces around 80 profiles from different eras and movements, including John Constable, Beatrix Potter, Paul Nash, and Julie Verhoeven. Each profile includes a short text on the artist and their use of the sketchbook. The book brims with exquisite examples of drawings from life and the imagination, material experimentation and the planning of greater works. The book also highlights less well-known names, as well as unrecognised artists, mostly women, for whom sketchbooks provided a creative outlet.