"This is both inspiring and terrifying" - Butch Belair

 For my next post featuring "An Illustrated Life" (which if you're new to the blog you should know I am holding a giveaway for) I wanted to pick an artist that was new to me. I was drawn to Butch Belair as I love a bit of really good reportage however after looking at his beautiful sketchbooks in this book I was shocked to discover that Butch Belair is actually an artist who specialises in very swish 3D images like the one above,

And is also a rather talented photographer. His sketchbooks however are admired widely and featured on websites like Urban Sketchers and Art Out There.

Butch's way of finding the right spot to sketch isn't one I've heard of illustrators doing before. He simply drives to his location and draws from the comforts of his car. To an illustrator who has drawn in rain and snow this idea seems genius...why don't we have sketchbook roadtrips? 

"There was a time, early on, when I felt drawing might be directly related to how I made a living. And there was more doubt and stress in involved in the process. it felt as it it were a requirement as opposed to a desire." His sketchbooks perhaps give him a welcome departure from the pressure of creating work that does relate to his main source of income. It's a different perspective (for me) and I find it pretty fascinating that it's not just illustrators that keep sketchbooks like this one.

(what did we learn from taking this picture..I have weird fingers and taking pictures in the lounge is a no no)

"Drawing in a book is part of the process. I feel a sense of permanence, substance and chronology that a loose collection of drawings might not give. This is both inspiring and terrifying." The idea of other people's sketchbooks being both inspiring and terrifying is something I can relate to!

Want to see more of Butch's work? You can keep an eye on his flickr but I have to say from my snoop around on the internet the book has some drawings of his that I can't seem to see anywhere else)


So wanna see more sketchbooks pages and words of wisdom from artists like Butch, Robert Crumb and over thirty other illustrators, designers and artists? Here's how

- send me a tweet  with a link to this blog post, or indeed any other blog posts involving this giveaway, 

- leave a comment on this blog post or indeed any other blog posts involving this giveaway. 

-like my facebook page

(or any combination of those will get you entered in there too, feel free to do any of these more than once!)

YOU HAVE UNTIL THE 28TH. I will post the book out on the 29th (it has to be this date as after that I am leaving the country for quite some time!) I'll be keeping you updated on the giveaway over on twitter and facebook, so keep your eyes peeled.

Good luck!