Category: Sketchbook
I love sketching on location in Europe. Little details abound everywhere you turn. This year has been a whirlwind of inspiration and impressions. Although I haven’t had much time to paint since I’ve been on the road continuously (for just about a year now), I’ve been sketching and doing lots of creative writing along the way. Best of all, I was recently granted another opportunity to travel back to Europe (3rd time in one year)! Here’s a sketch from Vienna, Austria.
Stockholm is perfect for wandering and sketching. These were done in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town district.
Stará radnica, the old town hall, Bratislava, Slovakia.
These sketches come from lovely Helsinki, Finland!
I’ve been wanting to visit Helsinki for a while, and took the long route through Scandinavia to arrive here (traveling all throughout Norway, then into Sweden, before boarding a boat from Stockholm to Tallinn, Estonia, and finally taking a ferry over to Helsinki, where I got an apartment and stayed for a bit. I love the vibe of Helsinki—it’s very artistic and designy, and completely inspirational.
Happy December!! I’ve finally had a minute on this wild tour of Europe to scan in a couple pages from my sketchbook! I was very inspired by the elaborate puppets at the Estonian Museum of Puppet Arts, which had not just puppets, but a puppet making workshop, artisan studios, and a puppet theater with really cool live performances.
You can also see photos from the puppet museum here, and read all about Tallinn here.
Specs: Pen & Ink, 50 minutes.
Location: Denver, Colorado.
This cool little glove shop was tucked into the corner of an old stone building on Via de’ Lamberti in the heart of Florence, facing Orsanmichele church. Loved the look of these leather gloves displayed on wooden faux hands!
Location: Florence, Italy.
I had heard great things about Lucca, a Tuscan fortress city surrounded by medieval walls near Pisa, Italy. The city was as charming as I was expecting to be, and had a great small town flavor.
One small detail I noticed right away were the windows. In Florence they are all rectangular for the most part. But here in Lucca, they were all rounded at the tops. I love Italian windows, almost always comprised of green shutters on yellow unwashed walls. (This one was no exception.)
Finally made it to Death Valley National Park. What a magical place! There is something irresistibly inspirational about the desert. Maybe it’s the way the mountain tops burn pink at sunset or the way the desert palette appears refined one minute then comes alive bursting with color the next.
Amazing.
“Artists Drive”
by Gayle Wheatley
Watercolor on Paper
2012
“Two Little Tagines”, Watercolor on Paper
