Sketching is the artist’s secret weapon. It allows us to record not just what a scene looked like, but how it felt, what it was like to be there in the moment.

Adebanji Alade is an enthusiast - this is apparent from the very first page where he explains his love of books and of consuming Alwyn Crawshaw’s Learn to Sketch until it practically fell apart. "I had suddenly found my passion. I was happier - in fact, I had fallen in love with sketching!"

This is not really a book about how to sketch so much as why to sketch, although technical information is here if you want it. In Adebanji’s case, the 'why' is because he has to (it really is an addiction), but constant observation opens not just the eyes but the mind and allows you to see and to look more as well. This is a book about finding corners, figures, unconsidered trifles the rest of the world passes by. Suddenly, these are like diamonds in the dust, points of light that catch the eye of the observant artist and allow them to deploy that secret weapon.

Adebanji is an author of enormous warmth and it’s impossible not to want to go out with him on a sketching trip. As well as addiction, he does it for love and conveys that to the reader - he’s a superb writer as well as a draughtsman. You’ll fall in love with him as much as you will with sketching.

Search Press . Paperback . 128 pages . Colour throughout