{"id":1666,"date":"2016-03-17T12:12:26","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T12:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/?p=1666"},"modified":"2016-03-17T12:12:26","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T12:12:26","slug":"travel-sketchbooks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elizabethfram.com\/Blog\/travel-sketchbooks\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Sketchbooks"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s raining as I write this and looks pretty dreary outside. Mud season has arrived. But March is passing quickly and it’s time to start thinking about upcoming vacations. Anticipating a trip is half the fun, and planning which art supplies to bring is way more interesting than deciding what clothes to pack!<\/p>\n

\"9.28.12\"

Paris<\/strong> \u00a92012 Elizabeth Fram<\/p><\/div>\n

As I wrote about in this post<\/a>, my tendency is to overpack, but finding the right mix is\u00a0a challenge I enjoy. Of all the\u00a0various travel sketchbooks I’ve tried, I finally found one\u00a0that I\u00a0really liked: a 6″ x 4.25″ version made by Winsor & Newton. It has a faux leather cover that has taken a beating with no sign of wear. Its\u00a0white paper has\u00a0enough heft to take a light wash and it’s the perfect size and weight to fit in my bag. I’ve taken it\u00a0to Paris, Switzerland and Vancouver, BC, but sadly, haven’t been able to find another one to replace it; they don’t seem to be available anymore.<\/p>\n

\"Sketchbooks\"

Winsor & Newton <\/strong>6″ x 4.25″, left \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Hand Book Artist Journal 5.5″ x 5.5″, right<\/p><\/div>\n

As an alternative,\u00a0I tried a 5.5″ square Hand Book Artist Journal<\/a>\u00a0a couple of years ago.\u00a0I really liked it,\u00a0so much so that I made the larger 8.25″ x 5.5″ version my go-to, everyday sketchbook as well. The paper has minimal tooth and is heavy enough to stand up to dense pen work and light watercolor washes. There is less of a “jump” in the binding between pages, so drawing across a double page spread is easier. The only\u00a0minor complaint I had at the beginning\u00a0was\u00a0that the paper is a buff color rather than bright white, but I’ve gotten used to it.\u00a0It’s\u00a0not as dingy as the scan below would have you believe.<\/p>\n

\"Granville-Island\"

Granville Island, Vancouver<\/strong> \u00a9 2015 Elizabeth Fram<\/p><\/div>\n

This week, in his blog Citizen Sketcher, Marc Taro Holmes<\/a>\u00a0offered another really interesting idea that you might want to consider: an accordion-style sketchbook you can make yourself in about 5-10 minutes out of a single sheet of watercolor paper.<\/p>\n

\"Accordian-Sketchbook-Folding-Pattern\"<\/p>\n

It seems like a great option on a number of different levels:<\/p>\n