I like to sketch in ink. I love the medium but I’m not often asked to use it in my work, so it feels like a break from illustration.

Usually I don’t enjoy sketching in front of people, but when I was in Papua New Guinea I found that I loved working with the people I met.

I’d sit on a quiet dirt path and as people walked past, I’d paint those who would let me.

To thank them, I’d give them a Polaroid photo of themselves––a treat for people who don’t own cameras.

And in fact, they preferred the photo, so this worked out for everyone as I hoped to keep my paintings. 

My newest sketchbook (top) is titled Max––the name of my grandson.

At six he went with his parents to live in Paris for a year.

To keep in touch, I’d cut out weird stories from the newspaper and create drawings about them, sending him the drawings I made.

He’s back in San Francisco now, but I’m still collecting weird stories and making drawings. I don’t want to stop. 

Vivienne Flesher has created books and covers for Farrar Straus & Giroux, Penguin, Random House, Harvard, and the Yolla Bolly Press. She has illustrated for The Kennedy Center, American Express, Elle France, The NYTimes, Martha Stewart Living; and her drawings have graced stamps for the US Postal Service,and posters for the Arena Stage. 

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