Research Task: 3.4: Creating your own version of reality

For this research task we were asked to go to the website: www.book-by-its-cover.com/sketchbooks and look through as many sketchbooks as we could.

I looked at sketchbooks of the following illustrators:

• Lisa Perrin
• Scott Campbell
• Jennifer Daniel
• Ray Masaki
• Andrea Tsurumi
• Jing Wei
• Danielle Kroll
• Becca Stadtlander

The work of Lisa Perrin really caught my eye first of all. Her work contains a lot of the types of drawings I like to do, flowers, animals and patterns. Perrin uses mostly graphite pencil for her sketches, which are a range of simple quick studies, thumbnails and more details sketches. I like how Perrin also uses her sketchbook pages to write down things she needs to remember and sketches around the words.

Jacoby, S. (2019). Lisa Perrin's Sketchbooks - Book By Its Cover. [online] Book By Its Cover. Available at: http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/sketchbooks/lisa-perrins-sketchbooks [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

Perrin uses basic shapes and lines for her quick sketches, leaving out shading or tiny details and focusing on the main parts.

I think you can gather what most of Perrin's sketches are about, the detail in the rabbits she has drawn on a corner of a page help to shape the animals character. The is also a more detailed sketch of two ladies, both clearly with different personalities captured by the facial expressions and details.

I really like Perrin's work and have gone on to look at her finished illustrations on her website.

Made By Perrin. (2019). Made By Perrin. [online] Available at: http://www.madebyperrin.com/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

Next I looked at Scott Campbell's sketchbook. His work is very simple and full of mostly quick sketches using either ink pen or pencil.

Jacoby, S. (2019). Scott Campbell's Sketchbooks - Book By Its Cover. [online] Book By Its Cover. Available at: http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/sketchbooks/scott-campbells-sketchbooks [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

Campbell does have a couple of more detailed sketches in there, like the girls at the cafe. I really like this drawing and prefer it to his other sketches. The line work he has used really capture the moment and this type of sketching appeals to me the most.


Jennifer Daniel's sketchbook work is very different to the other illustrator's I've looked at. Her work is very pattern based and reminds me of the Zentangle style.

DeSantis, A. (2019). Jennifer Daniel's Sketchbook - Book By Its Cover. [online] Book By Its Cover. Available at: http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/sketchbooks/jennifer-daniels-sketchbook [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

Daniel's creates very intricate patterns using the squares on her paper as guides and uses pen to create them. Even her doodles are contained within the squared paper creating a pattern of sorts.

I find this kind of work quite hard to look at because it is so detailed and busy. I would say Daniel's work must take quite a long time to complete because it is so detailed and intricate.


Ray Masaki's sketchbook is based on typography, he uses various pens to create different styles and sometimes includes doodles.

Levit, R. (2019). Ray Masaki's Sketchbook - Book By Its Cover. [online] Book By Its Cover. Available at: http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/sketchbooks/ray-masakis-sketchbook [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

I wasn't a fan of Masaki's work, I'm not a huge typography fan and the vulgar language he uses didn't help my enthusiasm. Masaki is definitely skilled at typography though and can turn different styles into the images he wants to convey.

Danielle Kroll's sketchbook was interesting. Mostly made up of painted sketches or lettering. I really like the colours Kroll uses and her overall illustration style. I also like how Kroll's sketches contain no line work only paint.

Goren, L. (2019). The sketchbook of Danielle Kroll - Book By Its Cover. [online] Book By Its Cover. Available at: http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/sketchbooks/sketchbook-series-danielle-kroll [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

I was curious to see more of her work so I then went on to visit her website and Instagram.

Danielle Kroll. (2019). Danielle Kroll | Home. [online] Available at: https://hellodaniellekroll.com/#main [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

Instagram.com. (2019). Danielle Kroll (@daniellekroll) • Instagram photos and videos. [online] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/daniellekroll/ [Accessed 16 Oct. 2019].

I really like Kroll's style, it has a vintage quality which is something that inspires me too. Her use of colour makes her sketches really stand out and I like the boldness of them. I will definitely be following her work from now on and taking inspiration from her work.


Looking through these illustrator's sketchbooks has taught me quite a bit about approaching sketches in a more simple manner. I tend to try to put too much detail in and get frustrated when it doesn't look right. I think this research task has helped me to feel a bit more relaxed about sketching quickly and also taught me how adding more detail can really communicate more information to the viewer about the character or location.


This exercise has also reminded me of the things I like to draw and given me an idea of what to focus on going forward.