Friday Finds
Liliana Guzman’s Volume 14 sketchbook, “Together Tomorrow,” embodies its own message of unity. Based in Bloomington, Indiana, Guzman’s pages are collaged with found vintage images, painterly sketches, and photographs and illustrations documenting ephemeral moments of daily life. It’s a book rich with color and texture, telling a story of human connection that crosses generations of art history. Liliana’s practice incorporates photography with drawing and illustration. Over the years, she’s been an avid zine-maker and created gorgeous journals of her work. You can see more of her works-in-progress on her Instagram and blog. You can also check out Cards By Lili and get Guzman’s unique pieces in the form of cards, stickers, and prints.
Anders K. Iden’s untitled sketchbook takes the simple theme of “Pictures and Descriptions” and explodes into a vibrant kaleidoscope of cartoon illustrations. The Norwegian artist creates an iconic, immersive cast of characters by playing with color, linework, layers of paint and ink. Through simple gestures and brushstrokes, each individual person or creature comes to life and seems to have their own story to tell within the span of a single page. With added inserts of different doodles and pasted-in notes, one has a sense that this sketchbook is a look inside the artist’s head, the daily inspirations he encounters. You can keep up with Anders by checking out his website and Instagram, and you can even purchase his original designs through Society6.
When it comes to collage, Danielle Delisle’s Volume 14 sketchbook, “Collages from the North,” is a great example of how sketchbooks can become sites of experimentation with color and texture. Although it’s probably very sunny where you are, Delisle’s cooler palette is a refreshing break from the heat and humidity that comes with this time of year. Layers of bark-like paper, mixed with metallic details and embossed paper, carry you across a series of visual landscapes bringing to mind the soft green of forests, the warm purples of sunset, the crackling of fire, or the freckle-like beauty of stars at night. One part of ARTDELISLE, Danielle continues to create collage work in the same style of her sketchbook pages and you can purchase these original works on her website.
Alena Kudriashova documents her daily adventures in Singapore in her Volume 14 sketchbook, “The Sketchbook and the Life in Between.” Each spread meticulously captures beautiful moments from a single day—a flurry of visitors at the 2018 Singapore Illustration Art Festival, a rendering of her view in a local cafe, details of houses she passes with her friend on a lively Saturday night. An architect originally from Russia, Kudriashova is never without a sketchbook. She’s contributed her unique, minimalist colorful style to murals and you can get vignette illustrations from her travels throughout Singapore through her shop. If you want to see more of Kudriashova’s urban sketching practice, you can check out her Instagram and Youtube, as well as support her through Pateron.
Jendy Dollar’s 2018 sketchbook, “Touch Me,” is “a small example of how a single weight of crochet thread and needle can produce a wide range of textures.” While many of us might pass by or interact with knitted works without a second thought, each crocheted ‘page’ is a wonderful lesson in the geometric beauty of this meticulous process of weaving and knot-making. Through the gaps between each pattern, the other comes through, giving you the sense of layered histories and techniques passed down through the generations. Pendy continues to work as a mixed-media artist and her projects have spanned across painting, collage, book-making, and more. Now living in Newsom, Virginia, Jendy has taken her passion for art-making and has turned it into a pursuit of art therapy-oriented education.