Art Of The State Blog - London

Available from Amazon right now is a fascinating new book by Tristan Manco (author of Stencil Graffiti, Street Logos and Graffiti Brasil) which takes you inside artists sketch books. While the book contains pages culled from the sketchbooks of well known graffiti writers such as Banksy and Blu the word 'street' in the title refers more to the attitude of independence the artists display rather than the ultimate location for the finished art. As a result this book contains the scribblings, drawings and the occasional spilt coffee of over 60 illustrators, designers, animators and graffiti writers. There's the fine line indian ink drawings of Ericailcane, the chaotic and colouful mixed up illustrations of Sam Vanallemeersch alongside the concept to the execution process of Eindhoven street artist Rosie. These pages copied directly from battered books and folders often reveal more about the artist than their finished products. One of Banksy's pages has a picture of a sultry looking woman with the words "Note. marry this" beside it - and it's on the same page as the sketch for his famous Mild, Mild West piece in Bristol. You get to see ideas worked on again and again until they are finally wrestled into their finished versions. Sketchbooks are as close as you will often get to understanding an artists thought processes and make you realise that the people in this book have got to the top of their game not through luck but by a drive that means they just can't stop creating. They just can't leave that pen and paper alone.