I am reposting this now as I have just returned from three weeks of travelling to London and Barcelona , where I have put all of my thoughts and ideas in practice. In the next few weeks I will let you (and Artist Journal Workshop) know what worked (most things ) and what didn’t (a few things) in reality.
I am also going to share my thoughts and travel journals with
Erin Hill’s Sketching Class this Saturday, so they may be interested in reading it tooTravel sketchbook thoughts : Alissa Duke
Thoughts on creating myTravel Sketchbook
I have had these thoughts going through my head for a while and I wanted to put them in an organised version on paper. The catalyst has been the Sketchbook Project that I am working on this year (more about that later) and wanting to share my learning experience anyone else who is interested.
Looking back, I always enjoyed reading books that were illustrated travel journals and sketchbooks. I enjoyed them for their illustrations as well as reading about other people’s travels, They are always more interesting if they are about a city or country I want to or have visited, especially the United Kingdom ( I am in Australia) .
This interest began many years ago with books such as David Gentleman’s Britain (and many others in the series) and Fabrice Moireau sketchbooks, to more recently Taking a Line for a Walk by Christopher Lambert, An Eye on the Hebrides by Mairi Hedderwick and Lorette E Roberts Singapore. Secrets of the Lion City. (and many many more books) . (I am looking forward to Danny Gregory’s upcoming book “An Illustrated Journey”).This is all pre-internet/self publishing era. But these are usually edited, formatted, composed, cleaned up, lovely small font with commentary, they are quite lengthy and published after the journey. Now I have many online favourites, .
I realised that I wanted to create my own sketchbooks in my drawing style when I travel.. They would be a narrative, day to day, capturing my travels, whether local, interstate or overseas.. As the sketchbooks would be created as I travel, I won’t have the luxury of all of the above editing factors. But I do have the luxury of being able to have an approach in my mind, a concept of how to approach a page composition and what works for me. That is the stage I am at now.
For the past few years I have been drawing everyday in a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook, using watercolour pencils and/or ink. I draw at home, on buses, in queues, sitting on stairs, at cafes,. So I am comfortable with how and when where to draw.
I also know how I draw at the moment. I am at ease drawing objects, food, paper. I am not so good at buildings and vistas. But architecture is an important feature of a city or town and so I want to include it , the trees, roads, sky. I have been considering how it is best for me to capture a scene with these in it. And people – people are the life of the city, so I must include them too.
Sketchbook travel Journals
I currently draw my pre trip preparation – drawing my packed bag, or things in preparation – my sketch-kit, passport, currency. I also always draw at the airport, and on the airplane.( a good way to pass the time) So I am comfortable with the first few pages of my travel sketchbook.
I am entering the 2013 Sketchbook Project and have chosen the theme : Travelogue.Paris 2007. I am revisiting my 2007 holiday to Paris, as if I was there, drawing as much then as I do now ! ..My sketchbook is based on my diaries, photographs I took and where I thought I would have drawn at the time, as well as souvenirs I bought. Although this is created in retrospect, all the time I thought how would approach future travel sketchbooks. I still have a few pages to complete, as it is not due to be sent away until January 2013.
The journal can be viewed here Travelogue Paris 2007
- it will be a combination of on the quick on the spot sketching and more detailed drawings
- leave first page or two of each day blank – at end of day I could draw maps, streets walked that day, rail/metro routes caught.
- draw objects such as tickets, souvenirs, food, headings also at the end of the day in my hotel room. There is time and space to draw. If there is a good view from the room, I can draw it everyday
- MAPS. If I colour the roads or areas between the road on a map I can match them with other colours I have used on the page, bringing it all together. Below are examples of maps and date experiments
- leave lots of white space – I can always fill it in later if it looks too sparse.
- write commentary about how I feel, think, react to things, smells, places but not too much. I will probably keep a separate diary. I have read a very good book by Dave Fox called “Globejotting : how to write extraordinary travel journals”. I am not a writer, but it had some great hints.
- Re: buildings and vistas
-just try an draw a section
- only colour some parts
- don’t try and fill the page – only use part of the page
Of course this is all very well in writing,
Your travel sketchbook looks so interesting and of course will be fresh and new to others reading it. I discovered a long time ago to just go with what feels like me, it always seems to work out better. I do love looking at books and seeing other people’s work and ideas, we can learn so much and everyone approaches their work differently. I think sometimes we think too much, worry too much about trying to get it right or finished or what we think others expect us to do.
I read just a while ago someone saying, “you are unique and no one else sees the world the same way you do”. This made me think.
We all have our own style and experiences and the choice of our subject and the way we choose to record our drawings. And we draw because we want to, have to, it is such a big part of who we are. It should feel like you, as you put so much of yourself into it.
It is your unique journal, it is looking great Alissa.
A very interesting post. I like the idea of leaving white space to add stuff later (think I just read something similar on Liz’s). I find travel journals amazing, but couldn’t/wouldn’t do one myself.
I’ve looked at the sketchbook project a couple of times, but came to the conclusion I couldn’t give it up when it’s completed it. Kudos to you for doing it.
That is so true Milly ! I have learnt so much from looking at other peoples journals and pages. I did stress about formatting my individual pages for along time.
It has taken me a few years to figure out my own styles, and this is always going to be evolving. The travel journal is a opportunity for me to explore how those styles can be used in different occasions when “on the go”. (I also learnt about the practicalities of what I wanted to do and what I could actually do when travelling.)
But most of all I feel like it is my voice speaking from the page. A friend has commented that they can hear me speaking when they look at my pages and it is like they were there with me .
Thanks Sue. When I thought it through and put it on paper in the Sketchbook Project, I did not have to think as much when I was actually there on the spot. It clarified a lot for me. I love doing my travel journals.
I was involved in the Sketchbook Project for four years. It is a commitment and takes time and hard to send the book away at the end. I am drawing so much more now and don’t have the time. We are fortunate that all the Australian entries in it are coming on a Tour to Melbourne in November.