Watercolor Journeys: Create Your Own Travel Sketchbook

by Richard Schilling

Provides excerpts from the author's personal watercolor sketchbooks as well as hundreds of anecdotal tips and techniques for overcoming the challenges of journaling on the road, from rain and insects to sketching the public without being noticed. Original.

Genres: Art, Travel, Drawing, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published May 28, 2003

Reviews

[theladyv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really lovely book on watercolor sketching. The author is a painter and dentist, whose medical volunteer and professional work takes him around the world. The book is filled with example sketches and really useful tips for anyone learning to sketch. I was inspired by his anecdotes and found myself practicing his tips immediately.

It’s a lovely read even if you’re not a painter! Perhaps you’ll be inspired to take up your own creative pursuits as a result.

[Tandava Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so much of a "create your own" type book, though he does have the occasional tutorial page. More of a tour through samples from his own travel sketchbooks, from around the globe. I ended up not really reading everything, partly because I don't care for reading fake-handwriting fonts in large batches, and partly because I was mostly interested in the pictures. Enjoyable, overall.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

The author is Richard Schilling, both a watercolour artist and a dentist. Because of his job, he gets many opportunities to travel and while traveling, he draws and records what he sees. On some trips, he and his wife served as dental missionaries in developing countries.

The watercolour sketches are very nice and evoke the holiday mood. They are accompanied by drawing tips and some step-by-step demonstrations. There are even tips for those who travel on tour buses (like he does on some trips), protecting your work from rain, keeping yourself safe in foreign places and other interesting stuff.

I like the stories that go behind each drawing. Schilling talks the places and their charm, the interesting people he meets, cultures he discovers and the experience of travel sketching. There are funny tales on him being chased by a village dog or on the people who look over his shoulders when he draws.

"We meet as strangers but part as friends," is how he regards encounters with those who stop to compliment his painting efforts. And it's pretty much what the book encapsulates - the joy and possibilities in travel sketching and life itself.

This is a lovely sketchbook I think anyone can enjoy, even if you're not into painting.

[Sherry (sethurner) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Schilling's book is lovely to look at. His watercolors, some with pen and ink are very well done, and an aspiring travel journalist/painter might well be inspired by them. I'm not so sure that a beginner would ever begin though, given the amount of equipment this artist carries. This book, if it were the first one I looked at, would have led me to conclude that I would never be up to the challenge. Still there is much of value with regard to materials, choosing sketching locations, simplifying your subject, doing value studies and so on.

[Laser Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

For artists, travelers, sketchers, and those that love to create art journals. This book was a mix between watercolor and sketching techniques with notes on the author's voyages to all parts of the world as a volunteer dentist. Not only was it a fun read but I found a lot of the tips and techniques to be helpful. If you like the idea of traveling with your sketchbook in hand, then I definitely recommend this book.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the authors travel comments as well as the inspirational travel art. Got me excited about doing a similar sketch journal in Italy.

[Gina Lento · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the sketches in this one