1986 - 2026: 116 books, therefore about 8000 drawings
Start point: It isn’t about perfect drawings — it’s about capturing experience before your memory edits it into something boring. The best ones feel like you could step back into the day. Here are the practical guidelines artists actually follow (and break when needed):
1. Draw fast, not well
Travel sketchbooks thrive on immediacy.
- 5–15 minute sketches
- Accept wonky perspective
- Capture placement + mood, not detail
If you only have time for three lines and a shadow — that's enough.
Oddly, those often become the most alive pages.
2. One idea per page (or spread)
Avoid cramming everything in. Pick:
- One street corner
- One café table
- One church tower
- One hill view
This gives each page breathing space and makes flipping through the book satisfying.
3. Mix drawing + words
Write down things you can’t draw:
- Weather (“windy, warm light, smell of bread”)
- Sounds (bells, traffic, birds)
- Colour notes (“cool violet shadows”)
- Time of day
The writing is what turns sketches into memory anchors.
4. Simplify shapes first
- Big sky
- Mid-ground block
- Dark foreground – shadows?
Squint, reduce, then sketch. You’re designing a painting, not copying reality.
5. Limit your palette
Typical compact palette: Everything else gets mixed. This creates unity across pages.
- Warm red
- Cool blue
- Yellow ochre
- Ultramarine
- Burnt sienna
6. Leave pages imperfect
Don’t tear out “bad” pages. They’re gold.
They show:
- Progress
- Weather shifts
- Mood changes
- Real travel rhythm - Perfect sketchbooks feel fake. Slightly chaotic ones feel lived-in.
7. Vary the page types - Mix:
- Quick thumbnails
- Full page sketch
- Small colour study
- Detail drawing (doorway, tree, pub sign)
- Map sketch
This keeps the book visually interesting.
8. Use pens
Ink forces decisions:
- No overworking
- Clear shapes
- Stronger composition
Pen + loose wash is the classic travel combo.
9. Date and location (always)
Future you will thank you. This turns the sketchbook into a visual diary.
Even just:
- "Tuesday — Whitby harbour"
- "5pm — rain clearing"
10. A simple travel sketchbook ‘formula’
When you sit down somewhere. Give yourself 10 minutes
- Look for biggest shapes
- Light pencil or straight pen
- Add 2–3 colour washes
- Drop in shadows
- Write a few notes
- Stop before overworking
What makes a travel sketchbook really good?
Not skill. Not detail. Not realism.
It’s about Pen first. Colour second. Stop early.
Think: visual postcards to yourself.
www.timbaynesart.co.uk Originally composed April 2026
