Some people prioritize food when they travel, others focus on the local music scene. But for a certain group of visitors, there is nothing more absorbing than settling down in front of a striking scene and putting pen or paintbrush to paper.
“I’ve always been fascinated by travel journals and watercolor, but I never thought I’d be able to do it myself,” said Clara B. Martin, a 44-year-old content creator and mother of two. While locked down at home in Madrid during the pandemic, she enrolled in online watercolor classes. Her daughters joined in, and once restrictions were ended, the family started bringing sketchbooks along on their travels.
“It’s a fantastic way to remember a place as you focus all your attention on your surroundings,” said Ms. Martin, who with her family has sketched in Amsterdam, Portugal and other spots. “This is a way to really disconnect during an hour or so. We all sit down and concentrate on the sketch.”
How can you get started sketching yourself? We asked professional sketchers and dove into sketching blogs to find out.
One form of ‘slow travel’
In recent years, many travelers have deliberately slowed down during their trips, tossing out the crammed itineraries to fully immerse themselves in one destination. It’s a practice that some travel experts call slow travel.
“Many tourists arrive at the same place, take dozens of photos with their mobile phone and continue running to another point on the map,” said Alicia Aradilla, an illustrator from Spain who has sketched around the world, from Washington to Mount Fuji in Japan.
Felix Scheinberger, an author of six books on the art of urban sketching, including a beginner guide to watercolor sketching, has noticed that more people, tired of staring at computer screens, are interested in taking up drawing during their travels.
Sketching “is one of the few artistic fields in which we experience our subjects on location firsthand,” he said. “The genuine is in demand.”
Ms. Aradilla, Mr. Scheinberger and others offer sketching classes on everything from capturing the light on passing faces to picking the best kind of paintbrush. Mr. Scheinberger said that while he teaches technical aspects of sketching, the thrust of his workshops are on “the art of seeing.”
Some classes are offered online, while others are held in person in locations around the world, so that a group learns together as they sketch a scene. Prices vary, but Mr. Scheinberger’s weekend-long workshops in Berlin, for example, cost between 300 and 400 euros ($314 to $419), and participants need only bring a fineliner pen (this popular choice costs $12 for a pack of six) and a sketchbook (some sketchers recommend this $16 Moleskine).
For watercolor courses, participants are encouraged to bring a small watercolor box with paints and one or two good brushes. These items may come as a kit, but many sketchers advise steering clear of sets made for crafts or children, as the quality of the paint might be poor. Instead, they suggest trying this 12-paint White Nights set for $37, or this $23 Winsor and Newton Cotman kit designed for travel.
The internet is awash in insider tips on the size of watercolor brushes to pack and what kind of sketchbook to bring. The Reddit Urban Sketchers channel is especially helpful for perusing sketchers’ favorite kits.
Incorporating sketching into your trip
One popular way to get started is to join Urban Sketchers, a nonprofit organization based in Washington State, which since 2009 has acted as a grass roots hub for sketchers. Urban Sketchers has local chapters in 499 international cities and counts 1,200 people as members. Membership is free and involves simply joining up with a local chapter; the chapters organize group outings and sketching opportunities and encourage a sense of community. Urban Sketchers maintains the “Global Sketchbook,” a blog that offers tips and inspiration, and features the sketches of members around the world.
If you want to start on your own, the first step is getting out there. “In order to reap our own experiences, we have to walk out the door,” Mr. Scheinberger said. “It’s good to take a sketchbook along.”
A pencil and paper is all it takes. Most people pack a sketchbook, but even that is not necessary: one urban sketcher, Julio Brenes, uses disposable paper coffee cups as his canvas.
“Urban sketching has completely changed the way I travel around the world,” said Ms. Aradilla. “It allows me to travel more slowly and appreciate more clearly what the day-to-day life of a city is like: to perceive its light, its sounds, its routines.”
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