Shadows on a Page – Through the Sketchbook

The drawings in Sketchbook 23 are based on the shadows cast across the pages of a book while on a bus. The outlines of the shadows are drawn by the artist directly onto the page with pencil. At his studio, Kelly develops the sketches in ink. He experiments with variations, crops and layers the shadow forms to generate new ones. The black and white drawings are the source material for large paintings. 1957.

Artist: Ellsworth Kelly.

Ellsworth Kelly: 1954, Drawings on a Bus. Sketchbook 23; is a published book, and exhibition.

What has the sketchbook been in the past and what can it be today? Together this website demonstrates how sketchbooks cross disciplines, skills, cultures, gender, and class etc., to gain a better understanding.

The sketchbooks appear here not necessarily for the 'name' of the artist, but for the different thinking and seeing through the sketchbook.