Book Review: The Venice Chronicles

I actually did a preview last year when the book came out, so I'll save some writing by using the earlier content.

If you love sketchbooks or watercolors, you'll love The Venice Chronicles. It's a sketchbook, travelogue, comic thrown into a sturdy hardcover book with a love story at its core.

The artist is Enrico Casarosa, a story artist at Pixar. He has a blog where he post lots of artwork and thoughts so be sure to check it out!

The sketches in the book are wonderful and watercolor beautiful. The characters are appealing and, well, real. I can't remember if I've seen water colour comics before but there it is in this unique book.

The story is about his travel with his girl. Included also is a section on how they met, and how he used his drawings to attract her attention, of course! There are lots of great interaction and funny dialogue to draw smiles.

Enrico has created a Flickr set for the book where you can read the pages, best viewed in slideshow mode. The resolution isn't great so you'll still want to buy the book and support the artist. It's a lovely book. My copy is actually bought at San Diego Comic Con 2009 and signed by him.

You can also check out the creative process of the book on Enrico's Flickr photoset titled The making of The Venice Chronicles, also best viewed in slideshow mode to you can read the captions. I love the photo of him painting and carrying the baby at the same time — multitasking creative talent.