I recently went to Mexico with my daughter for a week in May.
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort on the Riviera Maya, that is the Caribbean sea shore of the country on the east coast.
I had been to Mexico twenty years ago and at that time I had four kids and a husband so it was quite hectic.
This time it was grown-ups only.
There was a steady cadence to each day.
⠀
Travel Journal
I took my travel sketchbook with me as I had plans to make a sketch journal of the trip.
The book is an A5 size that's about 5 by 8 inches.
The pages are plain with no lines or dots.
⠀
Travel Sketch Journal
⠀
Travel Art Supplies
I took a few art supplies, but not too many.
These days I never check a suitcase and everything I need for a week's vacation fits into my cabin overhead bag.
⠀
Pencils
I had tree pencils an HB, 2H and 4H.
A small eraser.
Faber Castell Pitt Artist pen brushes in grey, beige, light blue, dark blue and a dull green.
A travel watercolor paint set by Schmincke. It has twelve color pans.
⠀
Paintbrushes
Three paint brushes: ⠀
A fat number 16 for water only.
2 x number 4 brushes, one with a red handle (for warm colors) and one with a blue handle (for cool colors).
⠀
Layout
For my sketches I wanted to simply capture what went on in the day.
The sketches did not need to be everything we did, but just the essence of what happened, the mood and the highlights.
I thought I'd do about five small drawings on each page which then grew into three two-page spreads.
Each page has a little story block with a small sketch.
I like this idea because then you can do micro and the macro sketches.
First you zoom in for a closeup of something and then pull back for a wider landscape view.
⠀
Subjects
I tried to have one sketch for each of the seven days that depicted what we did, ate and experienced.
⠀
Wildlife
There was far more wildlife that I had expected. So, a few animals popped up in the journal.
I'm not good at drawing animals, or humans for that matter.
The creatures we saw were:
Cats.
Coatis.
Lizards.
Alligator signs, but thankfully no actual snappy sightings.
Woodpeckers.
Big birds.
⠀
Foliage
In the gorgeous rolling gardens were planted forests of palm trees.
I believe they were coconut palms, but I'm not sure.
The flowers on the shrubs were bright, bold and huge. This was a hot place and the plants reflected their environment.
No wishy-washy pale blues and pinks here as we often see in Vancouver.
The broad leaves were tropical, shiny, emerald, large and flat.
⠀
Weather
It was hot with around a high of 32C each day. On one scorcher it went up to 34C.
The UV (ultraviolet) index was through the roof at UV12.
I'd not paid much attention to this number before as back home it is only ever UV3.
The days were filled with sun, sun, sun and not a cloud in the sky.
Travel sketching with pen and wash in the gazebo
⠀
Sketch Spreads
I am simply a hobby artist and my goal is to capture some of my life through my art.
I hope this inspires you to make a sketch journal for your next trip.
⠀
Final Thoughts
I've done a few travel journal pages before.
The thing is that I don’t travel much really.
But now, as I develop my hobby art lifestyle that includes a sketchbook almost every day, I'm looking forward to capturing some more memories in my travel sketch journal.
