Sorry for the slightly mysterious intro to this review, but Elise Gravel is a bit of an art hero of ours, and her idea - of keeping a little black doodle journal for those times when you've finally put the kids to bed and have a spare microsecond to yourself - is a siren song to us.
Mummy and Charlotte have to put up with this sort of thing all the time. I carry an art journal with me at all times, usually some tiny little A5 hardbacked doodle or sketch pad I've picked up somewhere (note - if you ever want to buy me a present and have it hugely enthusiastically received, always opt for a sketch pad!)
Whenever I'm left alone for a moment (usually when the girls are trying on clothes or taking TEN FLIPPING HOURS TO GET READY EVERY MORNING) I pull out my doodle pad rather than my phone and get doodling.
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| Doodling is excellent fun, and a really good soothing pastime when you've had a naff day at school or work |
In "If Found, Please Return to Elise Gravel" Elise playfully constructs her own crazed band of characters in her hard-backed art journal and shares them with us.
There's a real eclectic mix, from Elvis singing on the surface of a distant planet (while Elise boogies along), to a whole host of named creatures - which Charlotte of course loved to bits as one of her favourite things ever is finding crazy monsters named after members of her class.
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| Don't let Albert anywhere near your favourite sneakers. It would be bad! |
(Though I'm not sure she was that impressed with finding out she was a cute purple glob).
A fab art prompt book, a gallery of Elise's work, a brilliantly inspirational idea, wonderfully presented in a cover that mimics those elastic-bound covers on your favourite moleskines.
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| Oooh! Squishy! |
Daddy's favourite bit: Such a great celebration of the joy of doodling, Elise's effervescent enthusiasm is certainly catching!
"If Found, Please Return to Elise Gravel" is out on 6th June 2017, published by Drawn and Quarterly. (Kindly supplied for review)