The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition Vol. 1 is a collaborative series of art books created by 5,000 artists from around the world.
Anyone — from anywhere in the world — can participate in the project. Sign up to receive a blank sketchbook in the mail, then fill it up and send it back. Your work will be cataloged in the Brooklyn Art Library and published in the Limited Edition art book series.
The Brooklyn Art Library archives your sketchbook and exhibits it to the public. Our storefront reading room hosts the Limited Edition exhibition and makes your sketchbook available to patrons from all over the world — right in the heart of Brooklyn.
Since opening its doors in 2010, the Library has quickly become a cultural hub for our vibrant neighborhood. Visit us any time — we're open seven days a week — and watch as creative people from all walks of life draw inspiration from your work by exploring the collection. Whether you live down the block or across the world, the Brooklyn Art Library is always your home away from home in New York City.
We know it can be tough to part with your sketchbook. That's why each contribution is cataloged in the Brooklyn Art Library with a unique barcode. Friends, family and other patrons can find your work almost instantly — and you'll receive email or text message notifications each time your book is viewed. Of course, you can turn these notifications on or off at will.
The Brooklyn Art Library is your home. Our storefront exhibition space will archive your sketchbook and make it available to patrons from all over the world. We're open every day, so please come and visit us soon.
Join the community. The Sketchbook Project is a collaboration that unites a unique community of creative people from across the globe. Exchange tips and techniques, share visual inspiration or just make a new friend.
Share your story. The Sketchbook Project is an opportunity to express yourself to a global audience. Participants can upload a bio and share future projects, personal links and stories with other creative people.
The Digital Library travels far and wide. With hundreds of thousands of visitors and climbing, the Digital Library is an amazing platform to share your work with a wider audience. Choose to have your book professionally digitized and we'll give it a home on the Web.
Every contributor to the Sketchbook Project Limited Edition Vol. 1 will be included in a series of art books documenting the project. Together, the series will provide insight into the imagination and process of each artist participating in the project. Bound by the Brooklyn Art Library Press and hand-finished in our Brooklyn workshop, the book series will be published in the fall of 2012.
Our custom-designed sketchbook features high quality 100% recycled paper milled in the Pacific Northwest, printed with vegetable-based inks and produced with renewable energy. These sturdy, lightweight books are easy to carry, simple to rebind and better for the planet, too.
Specs 5.25 W x 7.25 H, 32 pages, 70lb text stock, 100% recycled paper
The Limited Edition presents a series of experiments inspired by the Sketchbook Project. Each Limited Edition project brings together a smaller community of artists to share the Sketchbook Project experience in a whole new way.
We recommend reading all the FAQs before e-mailing us with questions! Don't let the rules scare you – they're just here to help clarify the details!
If you have any questions or problems, please visit our dedicated support website and we’ll sort it out ASAP.
Brooklyn Art Library
c/o The Sketchbook Project
103A N. 3rd St
Brooklyn, NY 11249
After you sign up to participate in the project, we'll send you a package containing a custom-designed Sketchbook Project sketchbook with a barcode on it, your chosen theme, and detailed instructions about the project.
When you’re ready, just mail your sketchbook back to us. Your sketchbook will be archived in the Brooklyn Art Library and exhibited to the public!
When you sign up for the project, you will be able to choose from a list of themes. The themes are supposed to be a starting point, not a restriction — so remember to keep an open mind and consider the theme as just a guide.
The Brooklyn Art Library Press is publishing a series of art books featuring work contributed to the Sketchbook Project Limited Edition Vol. 1. We will include at least one full spread by each participating artist. If you decide to pre-order the book, you'll receive the book in the series that includes your work. Together, the series will present work from all 5,000 contributors, to provide insight into the imagination and process of each artist participating in the project. Each book in the series will be perfect bound and hand-finished in our Brooklyn workshop — look for the entire series to be published in the fall of 2012!
Your sketchbook will be professionally digitized and uploaded to the Digital Library (www.arthousecoop.com/library). This means that visitors from all over the Web will be able to view your entire book online in beautiful, high-resolution photographs and leave comments for you and other readers. Sorry, but we cannot accept your own scanned images for upload to the website. This is a long process with a high level of attention to detail. The fee goes toward the costs of manually photographing each page, editing the images, building and maintaining the online database, and hosting the website, among other expenses. We want to make your work look its very best!
You should feel completely free to experiment with different media, new techniques and unconventional notions of what a sketchbook can be. However, we do have a couple of simple rules. Please try to avoid the use of ties, sharp metal objects, random plastic doodads, art materials that could smudge, glitter, sticky substances or any hazardous materials. Please note that although you’re welcome to rebind the books, the overall length and width should not change and the thickness of the book must not exceed one inch across.
Spread the word to family and friends and then stay connected when they check out your sketchbook! As a participating artist, you'll be able to receive e-mail or text message notifications each and every time your book is checked out and read! Connect with friends, family, other artists and patrons as they experience your work. We're not responsible for dropped texts, e-mail notifications that get sorted to the junk folder, or the costs associated with receiving text messages. Please note that notification settings can be changed at any time by logging in to your account.
This is a massive, international project and there are many costs associated with its operation. Your entry fee isn't paying for a sketchbook – you're helping to offset material, shipping and labor costs while supporting the Brooklyn Art Library and ensuring that this unique visual resource is open to the public. Your entry fee also helps cover expenses related to the maintenance of the website and Digital Library, supports our small and dedicated team of librarians, and helps us to create and publish the first Sketchbook Project art book. Phew! Unlike many galleries, we do not jury work. Everyone who sends us their completed sketchbooks postmarked by April 30th, 2012, will be included in the Brooklyn Art Library and the Sketchbook Project book.
We do not offer refunds for artists who do not finish a sketchbook, regardless of the reason for incompletion. If you need to discuss any other issues, please visit us on the support board: support.arthousecoop.com.
We offer group discounts for orders of four or more projects, because sketching is more fun with friends. Please email groups@arthousecoop.com for more information!
With these helpful tips, you’re book will reach us safe and sound.
No, the Sketchbooks are not for sale.
Your work is your work. We will never sell your physical contribution without your express, written permission. We retain the rights to use images of your work in promotional materials and advertising across all formats. We also reserve the rights to publish your work in an exhibition catalog or other Art House publication. We reserve all copyright to any published materials. Please note that digital images may be distributed under a noncommercial Creative Commons license, in order to better share your work and that of other participants with viewers around the world.
Everybody likes to skip this part, but we recommend you don't! We've kept it short and sweet:
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