Adjunct Instructor, Illustration
“These sketches are from a sketchbook I brought nine years ago on my solo trip to Rome. I love traveling alone because it gives me time to reflect and draw. I loved how effortlessly elegant the Romans looked.
“This sketch [left] I drew from memory. The note on the side says, in Russian: ‘I have always despised men’s shirts until I came here … not sure what it is … is it the fabric or the muscles?’
“This sketch [right] is a collective representation of a Roman hipster, quite different from the Brooklyn version I know so well. The Brooklynites don’t take themselves too seriously (or at least pretend not to). The Romans seem so thoughtful about their image, so stubbornly elegant. And, of course, there’s the eternal cigarette held just so!”
“This sketch is of a woman I met at Washington Square Park. I loved everything about her style, down to the polka-dot camera bag. Like many of my sketchbook subjects, she made it as a supporting character into my new picture book about New York.
“Sketching liberates me from the boundaries of my developed style. Every time I start a new picture book, I go through my sketchbooks to see if there is someone there who could join the cast of my book characters. New York is the best place to sketch people. You can encounter the entire world in a single subway car during rush hour.”
Nayberg has illustrated numerous children’s books, including A Visit to Moscow (West Margin Press, 2022) and I Hate Borsch! (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2022).