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Jennifer New, "Drawing From Life: The Journal as Art" (repost)

Posted By: TimMa
Jennifer New, "Drawing From Life: The Journal as Art" (repost)

Jennifer New, "Drawing From Life: The Journal as Art"
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press | 2005 | ISBN: 1568984456 | English | PDF | 192 pages | 85.75 Mb

Who hasn't, at one time or other, kept a journal? The impulse to record our daily lives on paper is nothing if not universal. Still, only a few of us have the discipline to make it past the first few entries, and fewer still manage to create diaries whose insight and visual beauty can inspire anyone but their authors. Drawing from Life: The Journal as Art is an exploration of these exceptionsbooks of obsessive wonder filled to their borders with drawings, sketches, watercolors, graphs, charts, lists, collages, portraits, and photographs.

Jennifer New takes readers on a spirited tour into the private worlds of journal keepersan architect, a traveler, a film director, an archeologist, a cancer patient, a songwriter, a quiltmaker, a gardener, an artist, a cyclist, and a scientist, to name just a fewillustrating a broad range of journaling styles and techniques that in the end show how each of us can go about documenting our everyday lives. Excerpts from journals by such artists as Maira Kalman, Steven Holl, David Byrne, and Mike Figgis give us a peek at how creative souls observe, reflect, and explore.

For those who already keep a journal, Drawing from Life will be an inspiration. For those who have always wanted toor tried and failedit might just be the motivation needed to get past that first week.
"Refreshes the power, beauty and possibility of knowing ourselves through daily chronicle and tactile sensation." – Santa Fe Reporter, September 7, 2005

A richly illustrated exploration of 31 list-, chart-, and sketch-filled journals by painters, filmakers, engineers, designers, and other visual thinkers. – The Boston Globe, August 2005

A window into the creative minds of people from all walks of life. – Anthem, May 2005

Shows how various talented people use their journals as a record and rough draft for their lives and work. – Metro New York, July 2005

"Painters, photographers, a psychiatrist, a gardener, a songwriter and assorted travelers chart their journeys. The book breaks down the 31 journal keepers based on how they work: observation, reflection, exploration, and creation." – Linda Brazill –Capital Times, December 10, 2005

"Journals kept by 31 creative types, from cartoonist Lynda Barry and cognitve scientist/engineer Erwin Boer to painter Julie Baugnet, who teaches graphic design at Minnesotas St. Cloud State University, and sketches from a project journal kept by Mineapolis landscape architect Thomas Oslund." – Mary Abbe –Virginia Pilot, September 25, 2005

"In Drawing From Life, New interviews 31 journal-keepers on how they use their notebooks to observe, explore, reflect, and create their worldsand then she lets their words and images speak. The faithful scribes and artists behind this collection of journal excerpts unlock the secrets of their lives and hearts. The result, bound in a journal-like book with rounded corners and a graph paper background, is visually stirring." –Iowa Alumni Magazine, October, 2006

"there is something romantic about this journal…" – Stephanie Rosenbloom, –The New York Times, September 8, 2005

"Jennifer New offers a compelling examination of the limitless methods of journal-keeping. . . . With contributors ranging from a musician, to a medical illustrator, to an architect, the book documents a whole series of everyday career-people with unusual ways of cataologing the world. " –Resonance, November/December 2005

"Picasso left nearly 100 little sketchbooks filled with doodles and drawings that, to the delight of scholars, trace the evolution of his artistic styles." – Mary Abbe –Brunswick Times - Record, November 3, 2005

"Presents sample pages from dozens of peoples journals, all with images as well as writing. " – Maura C. Flannery –The American Biology Teacher, May, 2006

"This book is a must have" –Viewpoint, Spring, 2006

"Short engaging essays introduce excerpts reproduced from the visual journals of the 31 artists, cartoonists, mapmaker, scientists, travelers and other creative types, including Minnesotans Julie Baugnet, associate professor of design at St. Cloud University, and Tom Oslund, landscape architect." –Star Tribune, August, 2005

"Divided into four categories-observation, reflection, exploration and creation-these are the kind of rough drafts that beg for public viewing. " –Book Stuff, July 25, 2005

"Words alone can't describe the richness of the experiences captured in these pages by people like musician David Byrne, film director Mike Figgis, cartoonist Lynda Barry, and artist Gary Brown." –Portsmouth Herald Sunday, August 14, 2005

"A most imaginative collection of work from artists journals, the book features the creative work of dozens of creators. Included are personal, imaginative sketches, photographs, full-color illustrations and prose examples of their work." – Fred Klien –Santa Barbra News Press, January 1, 2008

"Visual diaries, as New notes in her preface, are more pragmatic, less confessional, and better fit for public viewing than written diaries.Pouring over the books vivid and arresting pages, it seemed to me visual diaries might also be more useful to the diarist. " – Kate Bolick –Boston Sunday Globe, July 17, 2005


Jennifer New is author of the best selling Dan Eldon: The Art of Life. She teaches at the University of Iowa School of Education and lives with her husband and children in Iowa City.


Jennifer New, "Drawing From Life: The Journal as Art" (repost)