How to start a travel journal
Tips and tricks to create a beautiful memorable sketchbook
You need very little; a pencil and a small sketchbook are enough. It makes you remember your holidays and experience them in a completely different way. You look more at details and colour and capture things that seem unimportant at first glance but are very nice memories later.
I will be travelling soon, and I am already looking forward to selecting my art supplies, which sketchbook I will take with me (video to follow soon!) and the quiet moments I will find to enjoy sketching. For years, I only took a sketchbook and a pencil with me; now, I often take a lot more (read: too many) materials with me and use a lot of colour.
How do you go about it, a travel journal? It's very simple: draw the things you see, things you like, things you want to remember. Besides drawings, you can also put small things in your sketchbook, like stickers, train tickets, receipts and small photos.
Things You’ll Need
Art supplies - from pens to paints to markers, anything goes.
Sketchbook
Subjects to draw: your surroundings and the things you experience :)
For inspiration, here is my art supply list from last year:
How to approach it
Make it a game! Pick 5 general topics (for instance, people, objects, nature, landscapes, books, and places you visit) and pick one of them every day, changing them every day. So, for instance, if this Tuesday is people day - the first person you meet will be your inspiration. Use something of their looks or what they talk about for your drawings. If it's objects, it could be one of the first things you see in your hotel or apartment or something you see when you go outside. And when you skip a day or aren't inspired, well, it can be about relaxing and doing nothing :)
Make a journal of just the cottage, hotel room, or tent you are staying in: draw what you see out the window, what cups are in the cupboard, what food is on your plate, and the games you play with your travel companions.
Make drawings of small bits you see: a small piece of landscape, a small piece of a building—little snapshots that catch your eye and that you want to highlight extra.
This is my sketchbook tour from last year:
Have fun basically
You don't have to draw every day, and your sketchbook doesn't have to be full! You can also fill a book together with your travel group, have everyone sketch something, and have everyone write a small piece. It can be done in all sorts of ways.
I hope this has inspired you a bit. If I enjoyed drawing in my sketchbook whilst I was in France, I will share it next month!
I think the most important thing I’ve learned about making travel sketchbooks is that they don’t need to be completed on the trip. It’s just as fun looking back through photos and videos and adding sketches to it long after you’re back home
Love your ideas and the emphasis on fun