Sketching Tiny

Travel is for fun, right? At least my kind of traveling is…so one of my favorite things to do on the road is to make these tiny pencil sketches in my journal. They are not at all demanding to do and give me a quick result before I rush off to the next sight. All of these are from 3/4″ (1.5cm) to 2.5″ (6cm) high, done in my small 3.5″ x 5.5″ (9cm x 14cm) travel sketchbook/journal–just right for my purse or pocket.

I couldn’t get enough of the endless variety of beautiful gables, towers and domes of Amsterdam.

One of the things I like about my small sketchbook is that I can carry it in the palm of my hand and unobtrusively open it to sketch when I get the opportunity. I am always looking for a good vantage point where there is some sort of seating. The bell gable sketch was done on a bench at a tram stop–not the best choice. Every few minutes a tram would come by and obstruct my view and people were coming and going in front of me, which was quite distracting. On the other hand, the other sketches were done in quiet spots so were relaxing to do at the end of a busy day…obviously I need to add ‘a quiet spot’ to my list of criteria.

By limiting the media used, the scale and the scope, for instance drawing the gable only rather than the whole facade of the building, these little do-able sketches immerse me in the moment while traveling. Next visit I’ll try to get some doorways and gargoyle downspouts…and of course more gables!