“You can’t do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh.”
– John Singer Sargent
It’s a Thursday afternoon in Washington D.C. and I’m sat at the corner of E Street and 11th, sketching for the first time since Southeast Asia.
What drew me to the scene was a row of old brick storefronts, but now that I’m here I’m also loving the orange and green trollies passing by like clockwork and the staccato rhythm of heels clicking on the sidewalk; city life at its best.
I don’t have time to properly finish the sketch – buildings go blank, crosswalks not as trafficked as they should be – but for the hour and a half or so that I spend at Harry’s and Harriet’s, I’m reminded that there’s no other way I’d rather pass a summer afternoon:
With pen and paintbrush in hand, soaking up the scene through my sketchbook.
A strange and amazing thing has been happening over the last few months, ever since I regularly began posting my travel sketches here on the blog.
Readers have been leaving comments saying that they’ve been inspired to try out sketching, or that they’ve signed up for watercolor classes, or that they haven’t sketched in years but they’re bringing a sketchbook with them on their next trip.
I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me. I actually went in search of a perfect image or gif to convey it, but let’s just leave it at this: It makes me very, very happy.
And so with less than one week to go before Beneath the Lantern’s Glow launches, I now want to see *your* travel sketches! More explicitly, I would love to put together a roundup of your sketches from this summer and publish them here – not only to celebrate all the sketching wonderfulness that has taken place, but hopefully to inspire even more people to get sketching.
So here’s the plan:
- Over the next two months (July and August), bust out your sketchbook – whether you’re on holiday, on a daytrip like I was in D.C., or even just in your backyard.
- Send a sketch or two (or even five) to [email protected] by Friday, August 30th.
- On Monday, September 2nd, I’ll publish a roundup called “Summer’s Sketchbook” here.
Thanks in advance for sending in your travel sketches! I really can’t wait to see them.
You’re amazing : ) Since I discovered your blog (about two months ago) I have been promising myself to start sketching once the holidays begin. Today, it’s my first day of holidays and what do I see? Your callout post! One simply cannot get more motivation than this! Thank you so much for being such an inspiring, fantastic person 🙂
Thanks so much for saying hello and for your lovely comment, Inaya! I’m thrilled to hear that you’ve not only been following the blog these last few months, but have also been inspired to start sketching – that is such great news 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful time on holiday, and I can’t wait to see what sketches you submit for the roundup!
I am always insanely jealous of people who can draw when I’m on holiday. What a beautiful way to spend a few hours at a cafe or park, just taking in the life of a place. But I always wondered how that would translate to new media, etc. You’ve done it perfectly. Your sketches are so beautiful. I’m excited to buy your book when I get home. I’m so happy to see something totally different in travel blogs and that you are welcoming people with a talent for drawing to share their gift. It’s fantastic. All the best to you!
Thanks so much for your comment and kind words, Bobbi! They mean so much to me. Sketching has definitely become my favorite thing to do in a new place – it really helps me absorb it and opens up the door to connections and encounters. And I love what you said about translating it to new media – it wasn’t at all what I intended to do when I started travel sketching, but I love the new directions my art is taking me in! I can’t wait to share the book with you soon, and hopefully you might submit a few sketches for the round up too 🙂
Ok, so I can’t promise it will be pretty, but for you, I’ll give it a go!
Yay! I can’t wait to see what you create, my friend 🙂 I believe you and Lee are off to Indonesia next, so it will be lots of fun to see some more sketches from one of my favorite countries!
I know the feeling you probably experience when someone says they’ve tried sketching because you’ve inspired them! I get that feeling when a reader says they’ve traveled somewhere because of my posts. I have no doubt that you’ve inspired A LOT of people!!!!
Thank you, Andi!! I know you can absolutely understand that feeling – and isn’t it the best? It’s always such encouragement to keep going and to keep doing what we’re doing 🙂 Thinking of you and your dad!