Publisher's Synopsis
Cv/VAR Volume XXVII documents sketchbooks by Philip James spanning 1964 to date, including preparatory studies of landscapes and city views, people, places and interiors, and life models at the Shaftesbury Centre, Kew, Richmond. 'I began my sketchbooks in 1964, making studies in the Medway area of Kent, and in North London. I wanted to record subjects but not with a camera, where creative decision is taken away from you and there's no escape from the mechanical frame. Using pens cut from cornstalks, charcoal and pencil, I would settle in with a place or a person and conduct a kind of exchange or conversation through drawing, which also helped to determine my paintings in progress. The habit took hold and now is automatic. I carry a small black book everywhere, here and abroad, to capture what catches my eye in a light web of line and tone.' Philip James, April '03
