Whenever she is working outside Barbara Rae RA responds to what she sees in her sketchbooks. Published here for the first time, these dynamic studies provide themes and motifs for Rae's paintings and prints, but they also stand alone as sensuous evocations of the subjects to which she is so attached. Richard Cork draws on interviews with the artist to examine how she sketches to connect with a subject and he describes the experience of looking through the vibrant pages of the sketchbooks. The sketchbooks are introduced by Gareth Wardell and are thematically arranged to reflect Rae's particular interests. This hardback book has 148 pages with 150 illustrations.