An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration From the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers Paperback – Illustrated, February 28, 2013

The media could not be loaded. An Illustrated Journey is a delightful collection of travel sketches from 40 contributors all over the world. They draw on location, they record their thoughts, and they share their stories in this book. The presentation style is similar to Danny Gregory's previous book An Illustrated Life, a book that I still refer to regularly.This book is somewhat similar to The Art of Urban Sketching. The sketches are all done on location. In this book however, the focus is on the contributors themselves and their thoughts on places and sketching while traveling. The writeup is longer with more depth and you really get to feel their love for sketching.I really enjoy looking at the beautiful sketches and reading the scribbled notes on the pages. Sketches have the charm and personalities that can't be found from photographs. I guess that's why I love sketchbooks so much.This is an inspiring sketchbook for travel and art lovers. It's definitely one of my favourite books for 2013.Highly recommended.The artists featured are:Ken AvidorRoberta AvidorChris BuchholzSuzanne CabreraLisa Cheney-JorgensenFabio ConsoliJean-Christophe DeflineBenedetta DossiBob FisherEnrique FloresWill FreebornCarol GillottVirginia HeinMiguel "Freekhand" HerranzHannah HinchmanKathrin Jebsen-MarwedelNina JohanssonCathy JohnsonAndrea JosephTommy KaneStephane KardosAmanda KavanaghCh'ng Kiah KieanKirk KolbyOlivier KuglerLapinVeronica LawlorDon LowPrashant MirandaSteven B. ReddyMelaine ReimLucinda RogersFelix ScheinbergerPete ScullyRichard SheppardSuhita ShirodkarIan SidawayLiz SteelRoz StendahlBrenda SwensonAsnee TasnaruangrongEarnest WardBryce Wymer-I wanted to recommend a few more travel related sketchbooks but realize that there are too many. So instead, I'll post a link to the list on my blog in the comments section below.

I totally recommend this book to anyone and everyone that needs inspiration. The artists describe their habits, design style, how they travel, who they travel with, what supplies they use and how they approach travel journaling. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, a novice or a dedicated artist, you will get something out of this book. I had to read it slowly and thoughtfully. While I will keep this as a resource and read it again and again, you only get the pleasure of reading a book for this first time to realize it is going to change your universe. Just say Yes, I am going to read this and share it with everyone!

Danny Gregory's eagerly awaited book, An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers, came out a few weeks ago, and after all the anticipation, it does not disappoint. The book is a rich treasury of travel sketches and personal profiles of many inspiring artists.Very similar in format to Gregory's 2008 book, An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers, his latest book profiles 43 travel journal keepers from many countries. Each artist has written a first-person account of his or her background in art and travel, how travel sketching is inspired, and techniques and tools used. Photos of some artists are included, showing them sketching on location. It is particularly illuminating to see the common threads among nearly all the artists - that drawing what they see while traveling enriches their travel experiences, bridges gaps in understanding about other cultures, and evokes memories like no photographs can. It's clear that sketching and traveling have become integrated creative processes for these artists: Seeing new places motivates drawing, and drawing motivates observing more carefully the new places they experience.The meat of the book is a beautiful collection of large, full-color reproductions of art from the artists' travel sketchbooks. These unique, spontaneous views of the world make me want to hop on a plane right now to fill my own sketchbook with the places I visit.Most of the artists included - Miguel "Freekhand" Herranz, Nina Johansson, Cathy Johnson, Tommy Kane, Lapin, Veronica Lawlor and Liz Steel, to name a few - are well-known in the blogosphere of the urban sketching/on-location drawing community. A few are less-known discoveries with fresh, surprising perspectives.In fact, if I have any complaints about this beautiful book, it is a tiny one: I wish it had included more travelers who are not professional artists, illustrators or designers, and who are perhaps less well-known. Almost every participant either has an art degree or makes a living using their artistic skills. I have seen online the amazing on-location sketches of so many people who work at "regular" jobs and do not have any kind of art background. I would have loved to see more of them included. Better yet, a whole volume devoted to the on-location work of non-professional artists would be equally inspiring as this one. How about it, Danny?