A Traveler's Sketchbook

I have been an avid sketchbook artist for many years. I always have one with me.  My car has one also.  And, yes I do draw on napkins at restaurants sometimes.  When I first started drawing before toilet training I would have used a sketchbook them but, alas, my parents didn't get me one.  I'm not really sure if they are visual image repositories or just annotated journals.  I can't conceive of an artist or the hands of the curious being without one.

Over the years I have developed some preferences in sketchbooks.  I prefer a small book  (14 x 21.6 cm)
with paper as heavy as I can find.  I prefer 90lb paper.  Because if you want to add color with watercolor the heavier paper will wrinkle less. For drawing, I prefer a black ballpoint, something like you would find on the nightstand at Motel 6.  I have used pencil, but it smears unless you carry a travel size aerosol of hairspray or fixative to fix the drawing.  I usually lost the hairspray.  In the back of my sketchbooks a paste an envelope of a size that will fit.  This is great place to keep ticket stubs, tokens business cards or maybe a few pesos. I use my books daily whether traveling or not. I develop painting ideas, make notes for videos,  copy song lyrics and  add about anything else that will fit.

Here are some examples:

On these pages I've worked out a color scheme for a painting on the upper left while below it I have done a storyboard for a video presentation.




The right side has value sketches and designs to be included in the video.

On the left page recounts an interesting event.  We were in a restaurant in Newcastle, England, where the service was extremely slow.  We entertained ourselves by writing limericks on post-its and sticking them on the page. 
On the right is a small drawing from Scotland with watercolor wash. (I usually do the washes in a hotel room in the evening rather that on site.)





Above on the left is a watercolor sketch for a larger painting.  I like to work out the a lot of the detail in the smaller scale.  In the book on the right  are rubbings of foreign coins.  I normally don't carry a pencil, but my wife loaned me an eyebrow pencil which worked quite well.   You will note on the top of the next page over the miscellaneous drawings is the layout of a hotel room.  Yes, I draw floor plans and maps as well. One of the books has a  extensive collections of drawings of the ruins of a 18th century South Carolina mill and the probably machinery for its operation.

Not shown are rubbings of plants, stickers, labels from beer bottles, collages, stampings, and other stuff.  (One of my books has a passport stamp in it.) Did mention "doodles"? The books are not just for drawings.

My sketchbooks are quite autobiographical.  They will tell you where I was and usually what I was thinking at a perticular point in time. if you don't have a sketchbook, get one!  If you have one, ise it!  You'll be glad you did.