Travel Sketchbook Tips: 6 Rules for Travel Sketches You’ll Love.

Written By Cortney Olejniczak

1. Less Is More: Keep Your Sketch Simple

When you travel, more supplies = more overwhelm.

A small kit helps you sketch more because it takes decision fatigue out of the equation.

Bring only:

  • 1–2 of our favorite pens

  • 1 pencil

  • one color option (small watercolor palette, a few colored pencils, or even just a gray marker for tone)

Too many choices will lead to analysis paralysis and frustration with having to carry it all around which is one of the biggest reason my sketchbooks has stayed closed or left behind in my bag when I’m traveling.

2. Keep Your Sketchbook Easy to Access

I draw SO much more when my sketchbook is easier to reach than my iPhone.

If your sketchbook is buried deep in a backpack, you won’t touch it.

Keep your kit:

  • in a crossbody bag

  • in your jacket

  • in your day bag’s outer pocket

Travel sketch on airplane

Just my sketchbook and my Sailor fude fountain pen kept me entertained for the entire flight.

3. Plan Time to Sketch (Or It Won’t Happen)

Travel days get away from you quickly.

If you wait for the perfect moment, you’ll never sketch.

Plan a 20-30 minute window:

  • early morning before others wake up (my favorite time)

  • before bedtime

  • in the airport or on the plane

My favorite sketches have come from early mornings when I had the beach completely to myself at 5 AM in Maui, and when I was sketching alone in the empty city square in Seville before anyone else woke up

4. Pencil It In and Finish Later

Travel sketches don’t have to be fully completed “on site.”

If you are short on time, quickly pencil the main shapes, snap a reference photo, and leave the rest for later.

On location capture the:

  • loose shapes

  • layout

  • perspective

Later (hotel, home, or café) add:

  • ink

  • color

  • text

  • shadows

  • labels

This still 100% “counts” as travel sketching.

My lions from the cathedral in Toledo, Spain.

5. Sketch Things You Wouldn’t Normally Photograph

Travel sketching helps you notice the little things. You can always search photos of famous landmarks when you get home, but you won’t remember the interesting plant at the one café or the interesting tile designs in the kitchen on your rental apartment. These seemingly random sketches will help you to remember details of your travels in a whole new way.

Draw your snacks, your shoes, your luggage…

6. If a Sketch Starts Badly, Keep Going

Every sketcher has experienced this… The first two minutes of a sketch always look bad.

Don’t be discouraged. There are MANY ways to save a seemingly “bad” sketch.

You can:

  • add a splash of color

  • add labels or arrows (my favorite)

  • add shadows

  • add texture

  • draw a border around it (instant improvement!)

  • write about it and make it into an illustrated journal page

 

Cortney Olejniczak