Whatever your level of interest or expertise, a sketchbook is an essential part of any artist's repertoire. It enables the artist to gather first-hand images that can be beautiful works in themselves or the basis for later development at home or the studio. Expert art teacher Michael Woods gives readers guidance on making the most of their sketchbooks wherever they go. It covers: Introduction - where to use a sketchbook; Choice of sketchbooks - size, proportions, bindings, types of paper, specialist books; Suitable materials - drawing and painting materials that are available but also practical tips on the viability of taking certain materials while out and about; Examples - an array of sketchbook examples from a variety of places using a range of materials, from the smallest pencil sketch to a large painted canvas that began as a sketch. All of these examples will give details of how they were put together; Scaling up - a brief guide to how to scale up or down from an original sketch to a chosen size using a simple drawn grid method

Nick Michael Woods was Director of Art at Charterhouse School where he taught for many years. Trained at Norwich School of Art and the Slade School of Art, he is an established painter and has exhibited widely. He is the author of five books, including The Complete Drawing Course, also published by Batsford.