These journals are samples from Jennifer New's book Drawing From Life; The Journal As Art, mentioned in last Monday's post on Koloist.

Looking at the journals in this book, you might feel a twinge of voyeuristic guilt, until you remember that the many creative examples here are from generous souls who gladly shared their notebooks and their thoughts.

Above, the third example is from one of the journals of Lyle Owerko, a New York photographer, art director and filmmaker who has received acclaim for his work by the New York Art Directors Club; Cannes Advertising Festival; and American Photography. He travels the globe shooting for many NGOs and human rights groups, and is known for his perception and knowledge of urban movements. His work graced the cover of Time Magazine's special September 11, 2001 issue.

An excerpt from Drawing From Life; The Journal As Art:

In 1999 Lyle Owerko went on a yearlong journey to re-train his eyes. As a commercial photographer who had grown up studying with a classical artist in Ontario, he was eager for a chance to unlearn the rules on which he'd been reared. He knew his journal, already an important part of his professional life, would be central to his expedition.

Initially the journals maintained the relatively rigid, gridlike style of his work-related notebooks. Gradually, though, it dawned on him that instead of being a busy guy with an overflowing calendar, he had no more pressing goal than to visit a tea shop or to explore a particular neighborhood. One day, while sitting in a park in Tokyo, he recalls, "I was writing with a set of newly discovered acrylic markers, when one of the pens unleashed a flood of ink. Looking at the mess on the page, I dipped a finger in the large drop of fluid and swished it around." As though shedding his skin, he began to break loose from the rules that had bound him...

...Now, Owerko... wants his work journals, which tend to fill up with phone numbers, notes and images, to be more like his travel journals, and for the "different streams" of himself to run together. The nomad and the urban dweller have become one.

When you pick up New's book, Owerko's journals and so many more can suck you in, awaken your imagination, spark ideas. In addition to the places listed previously, you can find it online at this interesting web site, Reform School Rules.