Sketchbook Explorations: For Mixed-Media and Textile Artists

A practical and inspirational guide to help embroiderers and textile artists make the most of sketchbooks to inform their creative work.

The artist's sketchbook offers an exciting platform to explore a host of mixed media techniques. Using a combination of paper, textiles, found objects, pencil, ink and paint, Shelley Rhodes shows how a sketchbook can act as an illustrated diary, a visual catalogue of a journey or experience or as a starting point for more developed work.

Whether out on location or in the studio, Rhodes explores every stage of the creative process, from initial inspiration to overcoming the fear of a blank page, manipulating paper and images and incorporating 'found' objects to build a sketchbook that is both beautiful and inspiring. Sketchbook Explorations is the ideal companion for everyone from the beginner to the more experienced artist looking for exciting techniques to expand their repertoire in mixed media.

The book explores:

• Why work in sketchbooks? The importance and joy of working in a sketchbook.
• Ways of recording and investigating ideas that inspire.
• Techniques in mixed media from found objects and layers to three-dimensional sketching.
• Creating on location.
• Using electronic devices to develop ideas.

Shelley Rhodes is a contemporary mixed media artist who combines fabric, paper and stitch with drawing, prints and digital art. Working from her studio on the Cumbria/Lancashire border she teaches workshops covering all aspects of design, stitch, drawing, sketchbooks and mixed media work. She is a member of the prestigious Textile Study Group and has written for a variety of publications including Drawn to Stitch and Somerset Studio.