With these words, Washington Irving expresses the dilemma of every American artist in the nineteenth century. The Sketch-Book (1820-1) looks simultaneously towards audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, as Irving explores the uneasy relationship of an American writer to English literary traditions. He sketches a series of encounters with the cultural shrines of the parent nation, and in two brilliant experiments with tales transplanted from Europe creates the first classic American short stories, 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow'. The result was not only a hugely successful travel book; it exerted a strong formative influence on American writers from Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe to Henry James, and is well worth rediscovery in its own right today. Based on Irving's final revision of his most popular work, this new edition includes comprehensive explanatory notes of The Sketch-Book's sources for the modern reader. In her introduction, Susan Manning suggests that the author forged a new idiom, the 'Literary Picturesque', to accommodate and turn to advantage his dilemma of dual literary allegiances. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Sketchbooks are an outstanding feature in more than a few exhibitions: they have a downright prominent place in showcases, above them monitors where all sheets can be seen on touch screens – a visual pleasure and an exciting event. Unfortunately, however, many people continue to be rather baffled by sketchbooks. What goes on there? Most are convinced that the purpose of a sketchbook is to prepare for a work – typically a painting. Its pages contain impressions of a preliminary nature, sketched in a few strokes, which are completed at another time and another place. But things have changed, and this is a development we have to examine at long last in greater depth: sketchbooks can accomplish more; they plough a field other than that of “pre-liminarity”! To date there is no publication that explores their true significance within the creative process. Is it not called for to take a close look at the weight artists attach to the “silent companion in their jacket pocket”? This is the purpose of this book.

First Published in 1951, A Soviet Theatre Sketch Book presents Joseph Macleod’s take on Russian Theatre in a semi-fictional way to show the effect of the productions upon different audiences. By using his pen as an artist uses his pencil, he gives, for the first time, an account of theatre audiences as composed of individual human beings and is able to paint the scenes vividly without neglecting the technical methods of the Soviet stage. By supple use of the sketch- book form, theatres, theatre-schools, actors, and actresses including some no longer appearing are painted into an all-over view of Russian and Ukrainian post-war life. In this book the author writes less immediately about the Soviet Union and does not depend on topicality or stop press news. Joseph Macleod and his wife visited the Soviet Union as the guests of the Russian and Ukrainian Societies for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of theatre, history of theatre, and performance studies.

A book of beguiling sketches of Travellers' life by Beshlie, herself a Traveller, and a talented artist acclaimed by no less a figure than Augustus John. This is a pictorial complement to Beshlie's compelling book, Romany Road.

Classic Sketchbook: Cats shows how it's done by showing museum-quality works, then coaching you to try the techniques with the help an expert's suggestions. Whether scribbling out a quick sketch with minimal detail, or making a finished portrait where every silky hair and polished whisker stands out, the best cat artists can capture the very essence of feline-ness. How do they do it? Firsthand observation of cats will tell you a lot about the way they sit, yawn, tweak their tails, and curl up to sleep, but it won't tell you how to get those things down on paper. Classic Sketchbook: Cats is the second in a series of instructional books that began with Classic Sketchbook: Botanicals. The series shows how to draw your subjects by looking at the details of museum-quality works, then coaching you through the techniques with the help an expert's suggestions. In this case the expert is Patricia Wynne, a noted illustrator with a specialty in animals. Wynne will guide you through fur, paws, and eyes, as well as cats sleeping, playing, or pouncing. Her unique instructions places a close-up of a drawing or painting by a noted artist like Gauguin, Chardin, Gwen John, and Theodore Steinlen on the left side of the page. And on the right side of the page Patricia Wynne coaches you with detailed, step-by-step drawings, that illuminate the process.

For a year, a group of16 art students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design walked the city of Milwaukee with sketchpads in hand. The 123 landmarks and scenes captured in the students' artwork and reproduced in the Milwaukee Sketchbook showcase the results of those artistic explorations.

Drawing your own comics has never been easier! Create Comics: A Sketchbook gives you all the tools to get started creating your own comic world by combining helpful tips and tricks with sketchbook pages with panels. Whether you prefer to draw single-panel comics or a graphic novel, the 58 pages of helpful instruction in the front of this sketchbook covers all the comic-making basics, including: Creating Characters Bodies in Motion Villains Battles Adding Speech Some Dos & Don’ts Sound Effects Inking Techniques How Does it End? Creating Your Own Comic Book Then, get right into planning and drawing your comic with the 144 blank pages in the back of the book that have panels outlined for you. The layflat format lets you focus on your drawing. So, are you ready to become a storyteller? This is just the beginning of something big! With so much of our lives and contact going digital, the Creative Keepsakes journals offer an intimate way to nurture your connection with yourself and the people around you. An entertaining way to get off your screen, these guided and free-form journals are great for writers and artists alike. Each journal offers content around a different theme, including silly prompts for a laugh, random yet thoughtful questions, inspiration for art and composition, interactive prompts to learn about your heritage, and blank interiors on high-quality paper stock to use as your creative canvas. Beautifully designed and full of mindful prompts, channel your inspiration as you put pen (or pencil, or marker, or crayon!) to paper to learn more about yourself, your talents, and the people you love. Also in this Series: 3,001 Questions All About Me, 301 Things to Draw, 301 Writing Ideas, Inner Me, Internet Password Book, My Father's Life, My Grandmother's Life, My Life Story, My Mother's Life, 3,001 This or That Questions, My Grandfather's Life, Create the Poem, Complete the Drawing Journal, Mom and Me Journal, Why I Love You Journal, Create the Story, and Destroy & Design.

A Collection of the plays featured in the 14th Annual Sketchbook Festival, hosted by Collaboraction Theatre in Chicago.