Moleskine - Van Gogh, Picasso and me

So I am in legendary company, as the leaflet inside each Moleskine sketchbook reminds me.

Over the years I have used many sketch books, in all sizes and shapes. Given a choice, I have a preference for paper with a bit of "tooth" but in truth will draw in whatever comes to hand, just to get an idea or observation down. I have a collection of half-filled and empty sketchbooks in various formats which I choose from, like trying on different shirts before going out.

On a recent trip to Lyon in France, I opted, for the very first time to go for one of the Moleskines, in the format a bit narrower than A5, and slipped it into my bags with a couple of drawing pens and 4B pencils in my plastic Muji pencil case. On my way down the A6 autoroute I stopped for lunch in an "aire de repos", motorway services which are really just picnic areas with toilets. They can be quite picturesque settings with tables scattered in the shade of woodland trees, sometimes with stunning views and very tranquil - a welcome respite on the long drive down from Le Havre.

The one at Parc Thiery didn't disappoint. And it was there that I pulled out the Moleskine and start sketching. The paper is thick, very smooth and creamy coloured, almost yellowish. But best of all, I found that, because of the way the paper is sewn in, you can open the double page up and it will lie flat. So you can draw on a page 10 by 8 in. (260 by 205 in mm.). It was a busy stay in Lyon and I didn't get a chance to do as much drawing as I would have liked but I did get the chance to take advantage of the Moleskine's double-page spread while sketching a puppeteer in the Place du Change with an audience of bystanders watching on.

Whilst in Lyon I also came across Lyra Aquabrush pens which have two ends. One is a very fine drawing pen and the other behaves like a brush allowing you to vary the weight of the line and create very gestural marks. And they work great on the Moleskine sketch-book paper. On my return to the UK I found that they were readily available here too on the internet but I had never seen them before.

So when I decided to do some sketches of the performers at the Marlborough Jazz Festival in early July I took a couple of the Lyra brush pens with me alongside the 4B's. The jazz festival was very lively at most venues and it wasn't always the easiest environment to draw in but I found the Moleskine's hard cover allowed me to draw using the two page format even when standing jammed in a corner. I am particularly pleased with the use of the Lyra pens which I feel helped to capture the movement of the performers and the energy of the music. For me, the ones of the Dutch College Swing Band were particularly successful in capturing the enthusiasm of the musicians which belied their age and appearance. They wore grey pin-stripe suits, like bank managers, but with bright red ties!

I have posted some of the sketches from Moleskine Sketchbook 2009/1 and the ones of the Jazz Festival up on Flickr if you want to take a look. My Moleskine has definitely become my sketch book of choice when out and about and I plan to continue to add to my Flickr library from time to time. You can bookmark my photostream or sign up for the RSS feed on Flickr if you want to keep up with what I've been up to.