Trip destinations: Europe – Oslo, Budapest, Prague, Hamburg, Amsterdam, London
Time-frame: May-June 2024
I managed to generate a few more sketches during our last 6-week trip to Europe in May-June 2024. These pencil sketches were done in my travel sketchbook which I carried with me. Although not an extensive collection, it served as an additional journaling medium for our travels, supplementing the photographs and Facebook posts that were the staple.
The process
Each of these sketches took between 45 and 90 minutes to complete, depending on the level of detail shown. Scenes were selected on location and the initial views and angles chosen, and usually set out immediately on the sketch book.
However, in order not to hold up my travel companion, I did also take a reference photo from which details could be filled in and the final sketch completed later on, when I had the opportunity to sit quietly by myself and focus. Often this would be on the train—when travelling between city destinations—or at cafes or while resting in the hotel room later that same day.
No digital software or drawing aids were used in the generation of these pencil drawings.
The benefits
Compared with taking photographs, a drawing reveals your own interpretation of the selected scene before you. The resultant image is usually more dynamic, capturing not just a moment in time but the context in which you exist in that scene you have full control in recreating on paper. On a subconscious level, your hand in coordination with your eye records not only the scene in front of you, but also your mood, your emotions and your mental state.
I certainly need to do more sketching, especially when travelling!
Sketches
Sketching on the train when travelling between cities