Creating Art while Travelling

Drawing and sketching while on the road, is it as easy as it sounds.

Drawing and Sketching While Traveling: Making Art on the Road

Traveling and sketching—two of my favorite things—can be an incredible way to enrich your experiences and capture the essence of the places you visit. But let’s be real: it can also be a challenge. As we embark on our travels, especially if we're planning to be on the road for months, it's essential to figure out our goals and expectations for our art. Otherwise, you might end up with a well-traveled art kit that never sees the light of day.

Setting Your Goals

Before you head off on your adventure, ask yourself a few key questions:

Do you want to focus on creating finished art pieces while you’re traveling?
Are you interested in making art about the places you visit to enrich your experience?
Or maybe you’re planning to create a series of paintings inspired by your travels?

There are so many ways to approach this, but the key is clarity. Knowing what you want to achieve will guide your art journey and ensure you actually make time for it.

Creating Finished Pieces on the Go

If your goal is to complete ongoing art projects or prepare pieces for an exhibition, planning is your best friend. Pre-plan everything you’ll need to make the process as smooth as possible. Have your paper prepped and ready to go, taped to a board, with initial outlines already drawn. Get your reference images printed out or uploaded to your tablet. This is especially useful if you’ll be traveling long distances by plane, train, or caravan.

For me, this level of planning is crucial—I’ll be working on pieces for an exhibition and creating tutorials for my membership as we journey across Australia. It’s about making the most of those quieter travel moments.

Travel Sketching: Capturing the Moment

If, like me, you love to sketch the places you visit, then travel sketching is your perfect companion. But remember, the goal here isn’t to create perfect replications of what you see—that’s what your camera is for. Sketching on location is about deepening your experience. When you sketch, you see more. You notice the small details, the subtle colors, and the unique quirks of a place.

Keep it simple. Instead of trying to capture a full landscape, focus on something that catches your eye—a building, a tree, or a unique detail. Take photos for later use if you want to capture a larger scene, but let your sketches be about the moments that speak to you.

And don’t forget to make time for it. Finding the time can be the hardest part, but look for those down moments—waiting for a plane, train, or even when doing laundry. These are great opportunities to refine your sketches. Plus, sketching can be a wonderful way to meet people. I’ve found that people are naturally curious about what you’re drawing, and it often leads to great conversations.

Treat your sketchbook as a journal. At the end of each day, jot down notes about what you did, the weather, anything interesting that happened, or even what you ate. These little details might seem trivial, but they’ll bring back memories you might have forgotten. Artists like Lyn Diefenbach keep journals of each place they visit, creating a beautiful record of their journeys for themselves and their loved ones.

Gathering Inspiration for Future Paintings

If your goal is to gather inspiration and ideas for future paintings, don’t stress about creating masterpieces. You’re just getting ideas down. This is where you really start to see your surroundings with an artist’s eye. Take photos, make thumbnail sketches to figure out compositions, jot down ideas, and note the colors you want to capture—colors that a photo just can’t convey.

You’ll find that you start to see things differently. You’ll appreciate the textures, understand how elements relate to each other, and notice the play of light and shadow in ways you might otherwise miss. Travel sketching forces you to slow down, to stop and really look at your surroundings, and to experience a place on a deeper level.

Making It Happen

Now, here’s the tricky part: actually making it happen. I often find myself feeling a bit guilty about taking time to sketch. What will my travel partner do? This is where a little communication goes a long way. Before you go, talk to your partner and let them know you’ll probably need an hour a day to do some sketching. They can bring along something to do—whether it’s reading, fishing, or just relaxing.

For example, when I was in Scotland, I had a little travel kit all set up, but it stayed in my suitcase because I felt bad about mentioning it to Amanda. She would have been more than happy to amuse herself while I sketched, but I didn’t ask. Instead, I just took photos for later use—which is better than nothing, but it’s not the same as sketching in the moment.

Packing the Right Materials

When it comes to materials, pack light and think about versatility. A small sketchbook, pencils, a mechanical pencil (no need for sharpening), charcoal, and erasers are essentials. A watercolor palette is a great option—it’s compact and lets you capture colors on the spot, which works beautifully with photos. If you’re like me and planning to do some finished pieces as well, you might pack a couple of pastel sets—like the Art Spectrum Arid Landscape set or the new Schmincke set I’m excited to try out.

Consider how you’ll store your work, too. If you’re working with pastels, you’ll need a storage box or folder. Sometimes, though, it might be as simple as a sketchbook.

Enjoy the Journey

Most importantly, enjoy the process. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Painting while traveling is about the experience and creating richer memories of your journey. It’s a wonderful way to slow down and really take in your surroundings. And remember, you don’t need to show your sketches to anyone. There are no bad drawings—every sketch is a chance to practice and learn.

So, as you prepare for your travels, set your goals, pack your materials, and make time for your art. Whether you’re sketching in a café, capturing the details of a bustling market, or finishing a piece for an exhibition, embrace the journey and let your creativity flow. Happy travels and happy sketching!

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Kerri xx

Categories: : art, artist, educational, goals, motivation