hi everyone! i’m all excited to begin to show you my umbria sketchbook (travel journal). as i show the pages i want to “talk” about how this process was different than my usual way of travel journaling. if you’re a long-time reader you know that i usually have a collage-style approach so this was a big departure for me. i have to tell you i was nervous about my total immersion approach. wow. you look at other people’s sketchbooks on flickr and think ‘oh i can do that not a problem’ once i was at the airport trying to draw people i changed my tune! but of course sometimes the simplest things are the most difficult, especially if you don’t have the corresponding skill set.
doing an occasional sketch here and there like i was doing this past year, is quite different than filling a book within a couple of weeks. and oh i did cram sketching into every single day in umbria. as many as i could. and what a high it was! it seemed like my brain hummed so quietly and i became so still, so utterly absorbed by the process. some sketches were done on location in alleys or cafes. others i started on location and finished the watercoloring part back at the terrace or kitchen table with a fire going. i found my ipad a very useful tool because the screen is so large. i would take an ipad picture and then later at night i would prop the ipad up on the table and draw into my sketchbook.
my sister also did much more sketching than usual. i will let you imagine the rollicking commentary that came when we finished each sketch. kind of along the lines of “you is kind, you is good, you is important” only wildly outrageous. more like, “you is a unparalled genius, you is a master, you has an exceptional grasp of form and shape.”
i grew more confident as the days passed. i loved watching my travel journal fill up with sketches!
i almost always hated whatever i had sketched immediatEly afterwards, but 12 hours later i loved it. in fact some of the sketches i thought were the worst have turned out to be some of my favorites. mind you, it’s really important that there be a certain level of delusional thinking in order for this to work.
as for supplies, i only brought a few pens, a pencil, eraser, sketchbook, one water brush, a page of reference fonts, and i used my sister’s watercolors. light & easy. simple.
i sewed my loose signatures into the covers a few days ago.
i don’t plan to abandon my other method of keeping a travel journal, but this one was such a fresh change. obviously, it would be fairly simple to combine both types of journaling in one book, and there’s no reason to choose one way over the other. it’s kind of like learning to speak a new language though. i knew i would not be able to keep a sketchbook while traveling unless i forced myself to do it. total immersion. jump in, cuss up a storm, and problem solve the whole way through.
hi shannon,
i took 3 signatures with me. as i finished one i started the next. the pages are mostly in chronological order in my journal. when i came home i just sewed them to the spine in that order. make sense?
im mixing them up a bit when i post that might be what is confusing…?
-mary ann
Hi Mary Ann – since you sewed your signatures in after you got home, how did you know which order to paint in? Are the pages in the book out of chronological order? Can you explain this a little more? I’m having a hard time wrapping my visual brain around it.
xo
Shannon
It´s a wonderful journal – I really admire how you can sketch. it´s awesome
Even better than TTV =), lots of good ideas. When are you coming to Sweden? not so many spectacular wiews, but Beautiful, thanx for sharing
You are my idol. You travel exactly as I dream of doing one of these days. Sometimes when I go away, I dream of this–but then life gets in the way–we try to rush through taking it all in and before you know it, it’s over–with maybe a few scribbled notes and some photos that just aren’t as good as I would have liked. I also admire your story-telling skills. It’s so captivating to follow you along…I read each post, savouring every word, hating when I get to the end…till the next one.
You possess unparalleled courage and have reaped the rewards! Bravo!
Where were you, oh 20 years ago, when I had the money and vacation time to go to Maine every year for two weeks with my best friends? I sure could have used your inspiration then. What I wouldn’t give to have journals from those trips now! You have preserved your precious memories so beautifully. I have loved all your travel journals but this one is very special…I love your sense of color…this journal is so bright and cheerful I want to dive right in! As always, my thanks for sharing, as long as you keep writing, I will be here reading!
Juicy
How tantalizing to peep inside and see the sketches and all the beautiful colours! I started doing lots of sketching in my journals the year we went to Mexico for 10 days. It was such a joy and added so much to my memories of the trip that I’ve sketched (along with writing and collage) in every travel journal since.
Erin in Morro Bay
You are so bold and courageous! Have a lovely weekend. xo
Looks lovely! Can’t wait to see more.
There’s something really nice about building in some time each day during a trip to sit and muse over the day’s events. The pleasantries seem funnier, the views clearer and the inspiration keener. A true unwinding, and as you like it, a slower more deliberate pace. I think I shall try this on the Baltic cruise this summer. Seems like a logical place to start. Of course I would not give up my camera, but there is something otherworldly about this water colour effect. By then I suspect you will have mounted yet another book class that could tie in perfectly with this new method.
Mary Ann, thank you for continuing to share your artistic endeavours. I am inspired by your work but even more so by your apparent love of life and the enthusiastic way you seek out and embrace new experiences/opportunities, artistic and otherwise.
I’m swooning here! How lovely! And what an accomplishment too!
You. Are. AMAZING. Total immersion. Gad, not only are you amazing, you are so, SO BRAVE. I salute you, I do. Thanks for sharing (and I want to see more, please, if you will) your treasure of a journal. Have you any idea how much joy this journal is going to bring to you over the months and years, as you leaf back through it and are immediately transported back to Umbria?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you are so inspiring. And oh, so brave!
The colors are amazing, vibrant, exciting; I love it!
P.S. I think you’re idea of using the iPad that way is brilliant!
The preview/peek is very enticing. I can already see vibrant colors and happy brush strokes. I think you’ve also changed your style of writing for the occasion. My impression.
Can’t wait to see the full version,
Love your tenacity and courage! Your willingness to take up a new challenge. Exciting and inspiring. Images have to percolate for me as well. Fresh eyes so to speak.
Love your sketchbook! It’s so funny of you to say you hate then love your sketches! I do exactly the same thing.
I think “you is great”, too. Really like the look of the sketchbook and hope we can see more of the pages. You’re impressing the heck out of me 🙂
Each brave, exciting, new thing you try and then share with us (your viewing audience) makes us braver and then more willing to try the new. Thank you for trailblazing and sharing after.
This is so wonderful! I experience the same thing with photographs – hate them shortly after and then with a bit of time I see the good ones more clearly. Thanks for sharing your experience – it is confirming my decision to go on my trip with ONE. one camera body, one lens and that is it. I love seeing your art! I think I’ll take my favorite photo and try to sketch it when I get back. 🙂
Fabulous! 😀
YEAH!!!! YAHOOO!!!!!!! I’ve been waiting to see this since your return. You’ve got such a keen eye; I think that is the key and the ability to maybe relax into the process. LOVE your pages, LOVE the cover, please oh pretty please give us a page by page peek, no hurry of course but tomorrow would be nice, say by about 6ish cst…wink wink wink. I have taken the plunge, a baby step mind you, I put together a tote I made way back during ROD’s first release into the world, I’d made the tote for a journal but it didn’t fit in the end so I kept the tote; now it’s loaded with some pencils, pens, a smallish plain paper journal and a few other odds and ends one shouldn’t be without, like my kneaded eraser 🙂 I’ve started a small collection of things I want to attempt to sketch and see how it goes. Enjoy your weekend!!!!!
I am beyond impressed! I applaud you for going “total immersion”, I made several sketches in a travel journal I made while visiting Santa Fe and Taos (not nearly enough) but I am right back in Santa Fe when I look at them!