How To Create A Travel Sketchbook

How To Create A Travel Sketchbook

In this post, I will address how to create your own travel sketchbook, the benefits of sketching, share experimental ideas, and suggest what art materials to bring on a trip.

Travel sketching is also referred to as urban sketching or city sketching. You can also refer to the travel sketchbook as an exploration journal or an adventure activity log or name it by a travel theme.

Travel sketching is a a fun adventure.

When I traveled to San Francisco in California, I spent a day sketching with fellow artists in Big Daddy’s eclectic antique store.

The barn-like building housed dusty vintage mannequins, talking parrots in bird cages, and scruffy suitcases, probably used by European immigrants arriving in the 1800s, or so I imagined.

Antique Roman numbered clocks clung to the walls, and mid-century tables were placed next to hand-painted flowery vintage dressers. Snug-size two corsets fit for a Barbie hung on steel-wired sculpture, and gold ornamented mirrors made the barn feel even more vast.

Surely a mecca for prop artists and other creative personalities.

After the explosion of visual input drawn in our journals, we presented our sketchbooks anonymously, neatly laid out on a table. Each artist was allowed to flip through twenty or so artists’ books containing all skill levels, trials, and errors or beautification. Eye-opening, for sure, to see how other artists recreate scenes.

What are the benefits of travel sketching?

Travel sketching is a way to connect with a new destination and preserve memories in a different format from photography. While travel photography is a snapshot in time depicting what you see, a travel sketch is a snapshot in time of how you feel at a location.

Like slow travel, sketching helps us stay present and focused on examining subjects or objects. If you, for example, choose to illustrate flowers in a botanical garden, observe how the pedals and the leaves attach to the flower stem. We might not think about these details unless we are botanists or floral designers.

Travel sketching can also bring you to exclusive locations, whether that is to sketch at local venues, or drawing on an exotic vacation. Ultimately, it helps you to capture your adventures in a meaningful manner.

If you are hesitant about drawing on the pristine white pages in your new sketchbook, read this post full of fun tips on how to prepare the pages before the trip. (Coming soon)

How do you get ideas for travel sketches?

You have arrived at the location but feel slightly overwhelmed by all the new sights, colors, and bustling noises.

So how do you even decide what to draw and paint?

First, think about what inspires you. Follow those breadcrumbs.

Walk around the new area where you plan to draw and see what interests you. Maybe a specific color catches your eye? Do you love old doors, paint chipping away, and perhaps wooden boats in a fishing village? Can you imagine a story unfolding?

If you are unsure what interests you, begin before the trip by creating a Pinterest board with images that speak to you. Or fill a cork board with magazine clippings and words. Follow your intuition as you collect pictures that feel right to you.

What types of environments inspires you?

Do you prefer bustling urban environments or peaceful nature scenes? Once you have at least a vague idea, map out potential places to visit.

The Top 9 Best Public Places Where You Can Draw

First, the weather naturally determines whether to sketch indoors or outdoors. I bet you like to cozy up inside if it’s too hot, cold, or rainy outside. If so, perhaps choose a café, museum, or historic home.

Draw or paint what inspires you and is true to the region you are visiting. If you are in a café in France, perhaps sketch your chocolate croissant, and if in a museum in Italy, draw renaissance sculptures.

On the other hand, if the weather permits, explore a city and sketch outdoors. Locate cathedrals, architecture, bridges, and train stations. Visit a town square, or a sculpture garden. If you prefer a nature scene, go to a secluded beach or redwood forest.

As you can see, sketching can take place wherever your personal interests lead you.

Story Telling: TEN Suggestions How To Visually Tell Stories of What You Experience and Feel About a Place

Consider telling stories with your travel sketches. Add text, talk bubbles, new foreign language words that you learn, or colors specific to the area you visit.

Here are TEN ideas to get you started:

1.Sketch a café scene and the server pouring your coffee or champagne while in Rome. Consider adding fun talk bubbles to your sketch.

2.Go to a farmers’ market and buy locally grown produce, arrange them into still life and draw.

3.Visit a botanical garden and sketch regional native plants, flowers, butterflies, bees, and birds.

4. Draft architectural buildings such as cathedrals, churches, or functional designs like a bridge. Pay attention to perspective, or just sketch how you feel.

5. Visit a local farm, sketch farm animals, and do daily farm life.

6. Integrate murals and graffiti as inspirations or backdrops to urban sketches.

7. Attend a museum and sketch famous artwork and sculptures.

8. Playfully paint expressive and abstractly how you feel about the place you traveled to.

9.Watercolor native wildlife in a zoo or aquarium.

10. Like Monet, sketch the same scene in ten different ways. Observe how the light changes during other times of the day. Later cut up or tear the drawings and rearrange them into a brand-new composition. You can add additional lines or paint on top of the new artwork.

How do you sketch in public? Overcoming the fear of drawing in public spaces

It can be overwhelming to sketch in public. What will people think, do they want to see what you are doing? This feeling goes away after a while as you get more used to sketching in public, but if you feel self-conscious about it, try these tips: 

•  Sit in a corner or under a tree
  
• Wear a hat, sunglasses and headphones
• Use limited supplies

 If you feel intimidated about sketching, start with a mini sketchbook. I absolutely adore my little Stillman & Birn 5 1/2″ X 3 1/2″ mixed media sketchbook, and I can draw in public incognito. By the way, I suggest mixed media sketchbooks to have the option to add watercolors, gouache, collages, and charcoal. 

Admittedly, it is not easy to illustrate in a noisy setting. That’s where soundproof headphones work wonders. For that reason, I use BOSE, but any headphones you prefer are fine. 

What to pack for travel sketching and a trip

I often get asked what to pack for travel sketching, so here is a list of suggested materials. You decide how much or little you prefer to bring.

The art materials also depend on whether you travel by air, car, or RV. With a car, you can take more items, even a plain air easel, for that spontaneous hop out of the car to sketch or paint captivating sceneries.

I’ve driven across the US twice in the past year, through 21 states, and sketched outdoors. Later, I enhanced the sketches with colors while in hotel rooms, using non-toxic materials.

Since traveling by car, I brought quite a few tools and materials in a portable art box. However, when I went to Europe, I only carried small watercolor kits, gouaches, a few favorite brushes, pens, pencils, and good-quality paper sketchbooks.

Preparing and Packing Art Materials

The day before your planned sketch outing, pack everything in a backpack or bag so you are ready to go. 

 Fill water-fillable brushes with water, and pack your field watercolor set, pencils, pens, and whatever personal items you prefer: a water bottle, a hat, sunscreen, and snacks. Some sketchers even bring a portable chair.

 Idea List of What To Bring To Travel Sketch

•  Pens
• Pencils
• Pencil sharpener
• Colored Pencils
• Watercolor pencils
• Portable watercolor kit
• Water fillable brushes
• Eraser
• Transparent ruler
• Small scissor
• Glue stick to glue tickets, postcards, memorabilia
• Small sketchbook

 Additionally, what to pack to add colors and paint to your sketches:

•  Large sketchbook Canson Aquarelle 140lb to use in the hotel or AirBnB
• Acrylic gouache (Black and White and 1-2 more colors)
  
• Small empty water container with a lid or use empty paper cups at a cafe
• Nylon brushes
• Loose cartridge papers or Canson mixed media paper
  
• Clipboard
• Backpack for the items
• Zip-lock bags
• Rag or paper towels

Back Home Again

Wow, now you are back home again after an exciting trip. You’ll be amazed how the travel sketches bring back memories of the precious time spent drawing at each location like a photo can, but with more intense feelings. A travel photo takes seconds to capture unless you are a fine artist spending time arranging a scene. Still, a sketch can take 10 minutes to hours of being in a meditative, creative space.

 You can spend some time painting a beautiful cover for your travel sketchbook at home. Include the look and feel of the images in your book. 

 To summarize, this post has discussed

• The benefits of sketching
• How to get ideas for travel sketching
• Public spaces where you can sketch
• What to sketch, and what inspirations
• Storytelling ideas for sketches
• What to bring on your journey
• Back home, reflect and paint the cover

 I hope you found this article inspiring, and please respond and show your travel sketches. I would love to see them.