- Hi, this is Kath Macaulay and welcome.

What are we gonna do today?

Well, this is fun.

You remember that we did the virtual travel sketching.

Now we're gonna look at virtual travel journaling.

What's the difference?

The difference is words.

This little page qualifies.

The minute there are words on it, you wanna know what the story is, and you're telling a story, and you're absolutely immersed, and everything fits in your bag.

Come along.

Let's have a good time together.

(upbeat music) Hi, I'm Kath Macaulay, and welcome back to Pocket Sketching.

I almost said travel sketching because that's basically where we're going today.

We did previously travel virtual travel sketching, and it was a lot of fun.

And we used photographs because you can't always go out.

But what have happened is, as you were using them, it reminds you of your trip, because you go into total immersion as you're sketching.

This is totally unlike using a camera and thousands and thousands of pictures, because you can take hundreds of pictures in a day and not even remember where you were.

In fact, I've seen somebody taking pictures and looking at their cell phone, standing in front of gorgeous things like a national park, and not even seeing, smelling, or hearing or feeling where they were.

Well, travel sketching and journaling is the opposite.

It's slow cooking for the mind.

It's where you slow down.

It's where you immerse yourself.

It's where you become one with what you look at and what you were putting on a piece of paper.

And at the same time, you're recording it in the computer of your brain.

When you get home and look at that sketch or that journal, it's gonna recall everything that was out there.

So let's set up a little bit, just a little bit, so we get an idea of how this is done.

I did happen to bring a few things, my bag.

And now, some people do this a little differently.

Some people bring a few, may I say, spare things, maybe a few, and they are journaling on a trip, and I have a few spare things, and they've got some sketches.

And now they really believe in embellishing.

So they brought tape.

And maybe it's hard to get the tape out.

And they're gonna stick things on that are really, really, really, really important, because this is really important.

And they may have labels.

I tried to get a wine label of a bottle (laughs).

It totally dissolved.

I thought that would be so cool.

It wasn't so cool.

But the people bring suitcases, and they might have a doily.

And the doily's important.

It's part of the story.

So the doilies put on, and they've had a good drink of something.

And so that gets stuck on and they bring glue, a glue stick and glue bottle.

And gee, I'm not even sure how you open this, because this is not something I normally would play with.

It's not coming out.

Ugh, it's thick.

Oh, well.

Man, you're not gonna stack that anywhere.

And then you glue things on.

And of course, you need a scissors to cut stuff up, and perhaps some spare ink, and naturally, you need some extra things to sketch with.

This is part of a craft.

It's called scrapbooking, and people bring suitcases, and they plan on having tables on which to put all this stuff.

I bet it takes a six-foot table per person.

And does this fit in my bag?

No, not one bit of this fits in my bag.

So for me, none of this stuff is appropriate for real travel.

I mean, you just defeated travel.

You are now playing with the craft you could do in the basement of your house or anywhere.

And it's fun.

I won't deny.

It's a heck of a lot of fun.

And it's some of it is incredibly inventive.

I mean really incredibly inventive.

I now have gooey glue, and have to wait for it to set up.

Now, if you're gonna bring a few extras for fun, for just fun, I recommend you bring a calligraphic pen and maybe a couple of colored pens.

And then I'm gonna show you what I think is the absolute ideal of travel journaling.

The difference between travel journaling and travel sketching is simple.

It's words.

Words at least double the meaning.

This is from Eugene Delacroix's travel journal in Morocco in 1832.

Now, you wanna read the words.

They happen to be in French.

Not all the sketches are good.

There's a botch.

There's a beauty.

This is good.

This is just sort of the outline of a Moroccan man.

This is a little piece of scenery.

Notice they're small.

The journal itself was small.

It's about this size, which you can carry.

Some take more of the page, some get backgrounds.

Always what's going on, and it's telling a story.

A travel journal tells a story, and it can have some embellishment, but if you don't keep it down to the stuff you can carry in your little bag, you're gonna need a table.

You can't do it on the fly.

Well, to talk about on the fly, he sketched from the back of a camel frequently, and then colored the sketches by candlelight in a tent at night.

That's on the fly.

You can do it from horseback.

You can do it from a bike, stop and sketch, of course.

Downhill skiing, same thing.

You want total portability, total compactness.

And then you can catch what you're looking at, and go into your mental space, and not be thinking about whether you brought the scissors, and the scotch tape, and the glue and all the rest of that stuff.

So let me go through a little tiny bit of what I think is important in equipment.

I'm gonna start with a couple of things you probably won't use.

This small sketchpad was made for me to take on a trip, handmade by Lois Jett.

I was going to go to Tuscany.

This trip never happened, but Lois illustrated the cover.

And then the inside, this is made just for me.

She gave me one earlier that was far more beautiful.

And I said, I couldn't possibly touch it.

It's gorgeous.

So then she came back with this one the next year.

And in this case, she used the paper that I used.

It's 80-pound cold press paper, thinking that I would use it.

It's still too good.

If it's too good, if it's too big, if it's too awkward, you're not gonna use it.

Remember to keep a few things really simple.

I have a couple more to show you just for the fun of it.

This one, I'm not sure I've ever...

Yes, I have used this.

Does it work with a pen?

Fairly well.

I've used this for watercolor, but if you're using it, this is cantilevered out into space, and you are working with, hopefully, your paint set.

I want you to see how this defeats everything that we do.

Okay, now you're gonna hold this, right?

Look at the thickness of paper.

That's heavy.

This is cantilevered clear out in space.

This is an attraction to everybody who's out there to come ask you what you're doing, and tell you how good or bad you are, and totally distract you.

Anything that goes out like that is going to be an absolute nuisance.

Keep it in close.

In your personal space, this defeats that.

The weight of the paper, you'll be exhausted shortly.

Holding this up is really, really hard.

That's a no-no for outdoors.

Next one.

This is a darling little sketchpad.

This is a little jewel, but will it lie flat or does it close on you every time you go to use it?

It's great inside.

It's got a hard cover.

That cover adds more weight.

It's a really, really, really good size.

But if you use it this way, it is cantilevered out.

There's a lot of pages.

If it closes on you when you're working with it, I mean, like I'm trying to work here, and this side comes closed, you don't want that either.

So what I go with, and exclusively, not many pages, so it's not heavy.

Paper cover.

It's hard enough as a backing.

It is not heavy.

Spiral binding, that will allow me to put a paper out here, hang it down in my space, and tuck it under, and no bigger than this.

This will go in my bag vertically.

Little less convenient than my usual smaller pad, but it will go in the bag vertically, so that I don't mind carrying it.

I can't zip the bag now, but most of the time I don't anyway, but still both hands are free.

Not many pages, not many weight.

Good spiral, goes under, does everything.

That is ideal to me.

Now, what are we gonna do today?

We're actually gonna do one.

So I brought along a sketch that happens to be on the monitor.

On the back of it... By the way, this qualifies as travel journaling immediately.

The minute there are words, you have gone to journaling instead of just the sketch.

The sketch is phenomenal.

In this case, I love the sketch, but the journaling adds more, and the journaling is anything that's relevant to you at the moment.

It needs to tell a story.

In this case, this is the recipe or the ingredients, and I can do this at home.

Veal medallions with mushrooms, veal stock, shallots, parsley.

The restaurant is the Odmor Restoran in Croatia, my first ever trip to Europe.

The bottom, it says, "Superb."

And this was all done just with the pen I was carrying.

This gets turned out so well.

This lady had this thing on top of her hair that was terrific.

And she was reading a book.

I mean, this tells a story, wine glass and a bottle.

However, it just happens that this was in a sketchpad, and on the back is more.

This actually makes a journal, it's what's on the back.

So I have to look at it, and get the feeling for a journal.

This means I have to kind of go into my own space a little bit.

Notice all my equipment can be in the bag.

It's totally portable.

And that's important.

You want it where you are.

You want to be able to use it when you want to.

You want to be able to say, no, I don't wanna sketch now, I wanna go shopping and have everything with you.

My bag even has a pouch for money and credit cards, and, you know, healthcare card and that kind of stuff.

Okay, I'm gonna start the way this would actually start Small plot, it was Zagreb, dogs of all sizes dogs.

Dog, now, I don't have them out there.

I'd have them out there, but maybe they're all sizes.

Here's a more or less a dog, more or less.

I'll get into this as I go.

Why not a curled tail?

There's one.

And dogs have a... Could bend on the hind leg.

Ooh (laughs).

Why not?

Dogs of all sizes.

Dogs of all sizes, everywhere.

So this is a travel journal.

This guy's got a blocky head and little ears, but he's got a fire hydrant, and he's taking a whiz.

His tail sticks up.

And there's a fire hydrant.

This is a travel journal.

It's what you saw on the street.

What you saw on the street.

That's solid.

Okay, and then there's a little one, just a little one with the little teeny head.

They were everywhere.

They were everywhere.

Stick up tail, hind legs, front legs, and a big one.

Not that big, and a big one.

They're everywhere.

They were everywhere.

And there's probably a little things left behind too.

Oh, well, so that would be on it.

And then graffiti.

Oh my, yes, there was graffiti everywhere.

There was graffiti.

There was good graffiti, bad graffiti.

There was graffiti on churches.

See you get into it.

It's a story.

It's a story.

Here comes a building.

I'll put stairs on it, 'cause there were stairs.

And I'm not gonna use this pen for this, 'cause I brought a couple more.

But graffiti and now words.

I don't even know how to spell it, 'cause I don't do it.

Everywhere.

Words, dogs, big and little.

You get the idea?

And this can be colored everywhere.

And let's see.

Oh, this one I loved.

Croatia was different.

You see what the journal does?

It brings it back to your memory.

You look at this, it's got words.

The words mean a lot to you.

And at this point, I could go to color if I wanted to, give the building, but the graffiti is gonna have color there.

What about this one?

Would that have some color?

Yeah, you can use your stuff, but don't bring too much stuff.

You bring too much stuff, and now you're gonna be spending your time getting your stuff out.

No fun at all.

Here's your dog.

Yeah, here he is.

Isn't he cute?

That's good enough.

Don't need more.

How about the other one?

Black and white, spotted.

Black and white, spotted.

A little more ink.

I'm gonna give them a black saddle, then maybe a black head, at which time I can correct the head, and he's got stick up ears.

So he's black and white spotted and he has stick up ears.

And of course, you'd be seeing this as you're doing it.

I'm trying to do it from my notes, but look at him materialize, and then there's one back there, but they're everywhere, so why not a bit of a landscape behind it?

Why not?

Just a bit of a landscape behind it.

And then the building over here, it's endless.

It's immersion.

It's really one of the absolute delights of travel, is being able to write down on paper what you see as you see it, and how important it is.

The steps.

Let's see if I can get something that looks sort of like steps.

This actually might work quite well.

There are the steps.

Yeah.

And then the graffiti.

I mean, my goodness.

And in this case, I can do it with a pen, with the brush tip.

I can do it with a pen.

These are kind of fun.

So I certainly can't do this in Serbian.

So I'm gonna have to do it, oh, why not?

Jon.

Oh, that became Joan.

No, Jon, spelled differently.

And Martha.

It's graffiti.

And then they have great big letters, and they do wonderful things, and it was everywhere.

My goodness, it was everywhere.

I mean, this was on the side of a church, really.

And it was covered.

In front of it was covered, everywhere.

Graffiti was everywhere.

Now, this has just become a travel journal.

I think you're probably getting the idea.

And as you go down the page, oh, let's see what else.

Place names, recipes, place name, Zagreb.

Zagreb, old buildings.

Oh, in disrepair.

That was explained to us.

And you can put the explanation in too.

This is fun.

The buildings are owned by groups of people.

They are unwilling to pay for the upkeep on the exterior, so they don't.

So the exterior is dilapidated, which you could put in a sketch, and then you've got the graffiti to go with it.

The interiors are where they put their money.

So this group, and the group don't get along.

They're big groups.

We stayed in a private home.

And the guy owns 20 parts of 25 buildings.

And he explained that's why they're all a wreck.

Is this fun?

This is a travel journal.

The minute you're adding words, you're going into a whole new world.

And when you look at your travel journal, you've got your notes, you've got your pictures.

And this was one of my most favorites.

So let's see if I can do this, because this was so true.

So true.

Little legs, knee, little leg.

People in Zagreb were very comfortable.

So you got a little bit of butt here, and then you got to hit on the top.

And they were on the beach, and they were playing on the beach.

(laughs) Then we'll put a small chair, a small spindly chair, which will sort of hold this guy up.

And it was fun.

It was fun to see this.

And you know, you'd put a little beach in, and then you can put another one lying down.

And I do have sketches.

I did a journal in France.

And there were sketches of skinny people, and they went twice as fast as we could.

They're skinny.

They're purposeful.

They're going places.

And, oh, I forgot, you're gonna embellish your journal too.

I forgot about that.

Now, if you want to, this is just a little extra.

And you know, my line's not gonna be straight.

A ruler, something mechanical is straight, is also not human.

Humans don't make straight lines, probably.

And then things can go out of the lines.

Like you can stop, and it goes right over the lines, and that makes it more neat.

And you can date it, I guess in 6/12/2020.

Place name it.

Got the date, got where you were, and you can decorate it as much as you might wanna decorate it.

Just for the fun.

And then you don't have to, this is yours.

This is travel journaling.

The minute you have added words, you have changed the picture, and people are going to want to read it.

You're gonna want to see what mattered to me.

Where was I?

Was it fun?

Here's one of my favorites, and this sometimes, rarely, but sometimes it makes a lot.

This is a calligraphic pen.

Oh, I'll use the big end so you can see it in work.

And it doesn't take any room, and I can get it in the back.

So if I wanted it to use this, old.

Comfortable.

Can't get the whole word in, 'cause I didn't plan.

So why not just put it there?

Casual.

And these words fit in with everything else.

Got a green one too.

Oh, I forgot that, crowds, because of game of thorns, but not everywhere.

And does it matter if I write over something else?

I'll just put all.

It's yours.

It's absolutely your journal.

You write in it what you want.

You can do very nice, lovely little sketches, if you choose.

But they're small, and they go very, very fast.

So if you want one in here, just, you know, it's the same paper, it's gonna work.

Same paper.

Oh, and then there'd be a beach.

Here's the beach.

And there would be beach people.

Beach people.

They love their beaches.

Beach people, lots of beach people.

They're throwing up arms.

They're having a good time.

(chuckles) So you get the idea what fun this is?

Travel journaling is a blast.

I recommend that before you go on a trip, that you get some materials and practice.

Find out what stuff you wanna take with you.

Make sure it goes in your bag, so you're comfortable, you don't have to schlep anything else along.

You're not carrying an extra suitcase full of junk.

You want it absolutely portable, but enough things to have fun.

You definitely need a paint set, so that you can play with color, but you don't have to bring everything.

Oh, I forgot to put the water in here.

There's the water.

And the water comes right on up.

The buildings are right behind it.

And if you have a little more time, if you were on location or looking at photos, you get more material.

I'm sort of building this out of memory from the back of this note, which is basically a travel journal.

And it's simple.

You can have just a tiny one illustration and a few words.

You can have a whole page of words and a few illustrations.

This is up to you.

It's absolutely personal.

And when you get home, your trip is in this.

Unlike when you look at your photographs, you look at the photographs and say, "Where was I when I did this one?

There are a lot of 'em, but I don't remember it," In the case of this, you're gonna look at it, because you were immersed, paying attention, getting the smells, the sounds, the feel, and putting things on the page.

There's nothing more personal.

And it's gonna bring back your tire entire, entire trip.

What fun?

And it all goes away and there's no mess and you can go shopping.

So you see, this is one of the most fun things to do.

Practice sketching, find out what you're gonna take and be ready.

It is so much fun.

And I'm so glad you came along.

And I do hope you get out to do travel journaling with pocket sketching.

Thanks for being here and happy sketching.

- Want to learn more about the wonderful world of pocket sketching?

Then visit my website at pocketsketching.com.

We have so much there for you to explore, including free tips and training videos, the Pocket Sketching supplies, photo galleries, and how to access additional training.

All this and more is available at pocketsketching.com.

Learn enough to play for a lifetime.

(upbeat music) (funky music)