I used to fear the empty sketchbook. I was afraid of producing something less than perfect, of wasting pencils, paper and then having nothing to show for it. I had the wrong idea about what a sketchbook is for.
A sketchbook is a visual reminder of those micro-moments that inspired you, those fleeting ideas you needed to capture, even if they never amounted to anything. Look through the sketches of any Old Master and you’ll find that many of their most amazing works are humble little sketches, almost forgotten about by history.
A sketchbook is a journey itself, so why not take a sketchbook on your next journey? That’s exactly what I did. I re-organised myself from sketching randomly on whatever paper was to hand, and assigned a sketchbook to a destination.
What follows in these photos and flip through is a visual record of my time in Kochel am See in Germany in 2022. I travelled with my son and husband, and it was the most tranquil, beautiful and eye-opening experience of my life (okay, apart from Patagonia, that still wins). We visited the Franz Marc museum, explored the lake and the hills, wandered the little village…it was bliss. I took the sketchbook with me everywhere, grabbing five or fifteen minutes to sketch whenever and where I could.
Some of the sketches are far from masterpieces, but that wasn’t the point. I’ll talk about just a few of them below. In no particular order.
View from the Franz Marc museum – experimenting with a single line, shapes and patterns as we relaxed in the cafe of the museum, while Alfie slept soundly beside me. The perfect artist life!
Franz Marc – a sketch of his study of brown horses. A very rough quick sketch as I had nowhere to sit!
An ink sketch of the lake using a wandering line approach – keeping the pen on the paper and drawing in one continuous flow. I love the organic, simple feeling of this one.
A scene too beautiful and irresistible not to capture, ink and watercolour.
Cross-hatching experimenting at the top of the Herzogstand?. It was extremely bright and blue up there!
More sketches from the Franz Marc museum, when I visited for the second time on my own and had more time (and a chair)
Trying to do those gorgeous autumn colours justice, then simplifying to just a colour wash.
#8
Little red deer – one of my favourites. Seeing them in real life the deer are so organic, soft and innocent. The paint is smooth yet you can see texture, brushstrokes, mingling colour over the deer’s back. Marc does something with line and form that I just cannot help but fall in love wirth.
#9
Plein-air – cold, but worth it, got up at 6am to walk to catch the sun rising, unfortunately it was hidden by clouds
#10
Sketch of the hills, view from our hotel.