Ok, so my Strathmore mixed media journal isn’t really made of gold, but the metallic paints meandering over the cover and the gold edges inspired by illuminated manuscripts have given it something of a reputation as a golden sketchbook.
This was the first sketchbook from our eight week trip to the fairytale places of Europe. I couldn’t believe that I actually managed to finish a whole sketchbook – a first for me. I was so lucky to have the time to just play, and so lucky to have a family that generously waited as I waved my watercolours dry or frantically tried to draw as the sun went down.
(When I say “finished” I really mean that I got something on pretty much every page. It doesn’t mean that I’m not revisiting some of the pages if I ever have time! I ran short of gold paint and time to let paint dry towards the end of the trip, so that is something I still need to do.)
If you are interested in seeing the pages closer up I have added pictures below. Click on any one of them to run a slideshow.
I will be sharing the second sketchbook soon, and I’ll share a few of the lessons I learnt during our adventure – including what I packed in the way of travelling art materials. I know that is something that always interests me!
I hope you like it 🙂
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- My A4 softcover Strathmore mixed media journal made over with a smattering of metallic paints
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- Welcome to my sketchbook for our Magical Mystery Tour of Europe
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- Planning our trip and packing my purple suitcase
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- First stop was Amsterdam. We dropped our bags at Schiphol Airport and went straight to Keukenhof to see the spring tulips
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- Such a perfect British welcome at this gorgeous cottage in the countryside – and then the perfect castle!
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- A Persian meal at the Sun Inn in Bruton (who would have thought?) and Beth’s favourite place – the Dr Who exhibition in Cardiff
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- Bath – the first time I had a chance to sit and draw for an entire hour. I needed it with all those gothic buttresses!
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- Chester – a world of black and white Tudor buildings, drawn in the spring sunshine while squirrels ran around and I shared a roast pork roll with Beth
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- When I booked this gorgeous remote shepherd’s cottage on the Scottish border I had no idea it would be surrounded by daffodils and have such an enormous bed!
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- I loved looking through the cranberry red velvet curtains in Pip’s Edinburgh apartment after our visit to the castle
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- Apparently we have ancestors from Richmond so Beth insisted we stop. I didn’t expect such a gorgeous view – and castle. Then another castle in York with very law abiding geese crossing at the lights!
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- Last stop on our way to London was a b&b with a gorgeous spring garden. The next day we visited the Camden markets – a favourite with our son.
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- Visit to the British Museum. So much potential to draw, but so few places to actually get a sketchbook out amongst the crowds. More to do here.
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- The Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens – famous because it is where I randomly ran into a Sketchbook Skoolmate visiting from the US. Hello Jen!! More daisies and squirrels the next day in the gardens near Buckingham Palace. We could hear the drums of the guards changing.
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- My daisy chain obsessed 18 year old daughter refused to go to the top of the London Observatory without a daisy crown. It was a nice excuse to stop and draw the daisies. Again 🙂
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- Brugge, Belgium. One week with 16 members of our family sharing two houses. Who else gets to go on an overseas holiday with their 89 year old dad?
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- Dad sat patiently and waited for me while I drew Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. Later we took the “kids” to Oyya, which we decided had the best waffles in Brugge.
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- Beginhof and the swans of Brugge. We had a special family dinner nearby with lots of mussels, frites and wine.
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- In Paris Stephen and I snuck away to enjoy happy hour in the Place de la Contrescarpe, right near our hotel in the Latin Quarter.
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- More rain and it didn’t let up for a couple of weeks. Hiding under the red umbrella in the courtyard of Hotel des Grandes Ecoles, Paris
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- Fougeres, Brittany. A short road stop. We were gobsmacked by how amazing this medieval village was. Stephen explored the castle while I drew and chatted to an elderly French gentleman.
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- Mont St Michel. Stunning. Cold. Really wet. Really windy. I discovered it is very hard to draw in the rain … but the pencil sketch was done quickly in the garden of our airbnb in Avranches
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- An old artist’s home balancing delicately over the flooded Seine in Vernon, France. And the incredible Chateau de Madeline where we spent the night.
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- Monet’s Garden in … you guessed it…. the rain. But I managed to draw a quick sketch of Monet’s lily ponds and home as the bus tours passed behind me. Yes – I painted Monet’s actual lily ponds!!!
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- Fairytale Colmar where we spent a week. I drew both of these buildings sitting on the verandah of our airbnb. What a view!
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- Spring day in Colmar, France. We ended up having dinner at the restaurant on the bottom left. The next day we visited Strasbourg and found one of our favourite patisseries. We are doing our research as Beth hopes to become a pastry chef one day.
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- Place de l’Ancienne Douane in Colmar, France. Do you think this statue is trying to tell me something?
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- That’s Stephen sitting on the balcony outside our airbnb in Colmar. What a fantastic spot. Then Beth asked me to draw her, Sktchy style.
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- Beth and I sat in the village of Ribeauville, France, as Stephen climbed up to the distant chateau at the top of a very big hill. You can see it in the distance on the right.
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- Little Venice in Colmar, France, where an exhuberant Chinese tourist nearly knocked me over in her haste to get into a photograph. And the camel outside a restaurant. Not real, of course.
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- Our flight was cancelled due to the Air France pilots’ strike, so we drove from Colmar to Florence. We spent ages going through this tunnel in the Swiss Alps, and a truck driver honked for attention and gave me and the drawing a thumbs up!
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- A short stop beside the Italian Lakes on our way to Florence. I hope I’ll get it finished one day.
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Oh Helen, this is truly wonderful, so much better than photos as you will always remember what happened at each spot. I adore the gold, but did you ever finish it? So much work! You really are making me want to get out there and sketch, so thank you x
Thanks so much Charlotte. Every time I look at that sketchbook it brings back wonderful memories, and lots of them involve traveling with family. It’s priceless to me, as they say. And you’re right – of course I haven’t finished it! One day, I hope, but the reality is that I rarely come back to sketches that aren’t finished on location then and there. It has such a different feel when the place isn’t fresh in your mind. Not that that should stop me adding golden borders! So many things on my to do list, and it remains there as something I would like to finish off, add stories to and blog (although I think that horse has well and truly bolted), or make a little book. I don’t mind having projects I can revisit – it means I’ll never be bored! I really hope you do get out there and sketch – you won’t regret it 🙂