And Now for Some Art

When I go on a trip like this past one, I usually bring a journal in which to write everything. It helps me remember. I usually carry one with blank pages, that way if I want to draw something I can. I don't bring a sketch book.

This time I thought I would try bringing a very small sketch book. I found one that is 3-1/2" x 5" (size of an index card). It would fit in my purse. I knew I wouldn't have time to actually sit and sketch, but just in case. I also bought a small travel watercolor set which is not much bigger than the sketch book.

I have not much experience with watercolors. I've never had any formal instruction with them. I thought maybe I would just give it a try. What I found out was that the small sketch book is great for fitting in a small purse, but that it was a little hard to draw on because there isn't much room to rest your hand on it (and on a trip you are usually not at a table). I used the watercolors much like I use my colored pencils, just for coloring in. I also brought a permanent black marker which I used to outline most of the stuff before doing the watercolors.

Anyway, I did a few things. Most of the time it was in the hotel, or on a train or airplane. I'm also very slow at drawing when I am looking at something realistic.

This was a decoration on the building across the street from our hotel in Zurich which they were renovating.

At the hotel in Bern, they served hard boiled eggs for breakfast. They had dyed the eggs red and put the Swiss flag symbol on them with a sticker. I thought that was fun but had forgot to take my camera to breakfast to take a picture. Here's my interpretation.


As we were at the train station waiting to leave Switzerland, we decided to get rid of some of our Swiss franc coins in the vending machines. Frank picked out this weird candy called Yo-Gums. It was a cross between a gummy thing and a creamy thing. I thought they were kind of Yo-yuck.


This is view from the hotel terrace in Trittenheim. This one took me a while to do. But it was nice to sit there and watch the sky. I didn't fill in the sky because we were watching thunderstorms and lightning and it kept changing. Plus, I was getting tired of doing it. I smeared the watercolors a little bit.


This was a drawing of the top of the building across the street from our hotel in Frankfurt. Didn't finish it all. It is pencil.