Here’s a whole stack of my favourite work! My sketchbooks are my playground and I think they’re good examples of the way I like to work and to explore ideas. They’re full of drawings, both quick and more detailed, of things I have noticed, of textures I like or simply of patterns I felt like making in the moment. I started stitching my own books way back when I was a teenager, but since the pandemic lockdown left me without any sketchbooks to work in or any proper drawing paper, I started making all of my sketchbooks myself from whatever papers I have to hand. They come in different shapes and sizes, I use the offcuts to make tiny books that fit in my pocket for sketching on the move, and I really love the individual feel of each book. A hand-stitched book lies open more loosely to and feels as though it has character even before any drawings go inside.
Using a mixture of up-cycled paper gives a different feel with every page turn. This is a rough collage of me in my favourite dungarees (that sadly don’t come out of the wardrobe as often as I’d like), stepping from one texture to another. Walking through the book to see what the next page will bring.
Concertina sketchbooks are quick to make, and allow me to focus separately on small sections of what can eventually open out to a long single image.
Concertina sketchbooks are quick to make, and allow me to focus separately on small sections of what can eventually open out to a long single image.
The background colour I glued down to hide the unwanted text on the up-cycled paper became the inspiration for this spread. with all the collage work I do, there are often piles of tiny scraps on my desk that I can’t ber to throw away. So I make these tiny, rapid warm-up collages just glueing them down any way I fancy.
Wrinkles in the paper from what was once a bag from our daily fresh bread adds surprising texture to drawings.
Tiny concertina sketchbooks from offcuts of larger sheets of paper make a perfect emergency-sketching kit. One tiny book plus a couple of pens or pencil crayons are always tucked in my bag somewhere.
These are just a few of the books I have made and filled over the last couple of years. If you’d like to see more of the my sketches inside, have a look on my sketchbooks page.
Hannah Sanguinetti 