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 It's not often I get to turn around from a workshop and use the lessons I've gained from the class right away, but our trip to Italy gave me the chance to create a sketchbook of places we visited.

Since I would need to lug my art supplies around with me, I tried to be compact with what I brought. I decided not to carry watercolors, brushes, or water containers. Instead, I opted for two small boxes of watercolor crayons: one set of Staedler primary colors and another made by Caran D'Arche, containing color hues such as burnt siena and yellow ochre that match the Tuscan landscape. I brought a water brush along with a set of Staedler markers. I packed a stack of watercolor sheets rather than a sketchbook. I could lay these flat on a clipboard without being annoyed by the folds of a sketchbook. I forgot to tape an inch at the end of each page, which means I'm going to have be inventive in connecting these pages together.

I also decided not to sketch while we visited sites. Instead I took lots of photos that I hoped would give me something to draw later back at our home base. It was fun to work this way since it gave me a second chance to visit the places we had been soon after we left them.

Our first hill town, Cortona, on a rainy day

Siena

Two pages of Florence, a wonder to walk through

Assisi and Fiumicino, our last stops 

Since we came home, I'm trying to keep up my sketchbook practice. Two creative friends and I plan to meet every couple of weeks to enjoy sitting in a garden and observing the world around us.

If you'd like to learn more about sketchbook drawing, try these classes:

Brenda Swenson, https://www.swensonsart.net/events.html
Kristin Meuser, http://www.naturemeuse.com

or come draw with us on our sketchbook days!