i'm going to start including sketches in all of my future travel journals. in fact i want to start sketching more and more and more! you wanna know why? IT'S FUN!
you wanna know why else? because even though i almost always hate my sketches when i'm finished i almost always LOVE them when i look back at them.
I feel the same way about my sketches: when I work on them I'm lost in wordless happiness. Then when they're done I see nothing but the (vast) difference between what I saw in my mind's eye and what's on the paper. But when I stumble on them after awhile, I'm entranced, and I wonder, Did I really do that?
Your sketches are really good, and they'll get better and better.
Posted by: Nancy | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 07:16 AM
and...know what else?? you're good at it! Steam ahead.
Posted by: Leslie J. Moran | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 08:22 AM
I have been very inspired to sketch more since you started doing it and discovered Danny Gregory's books and blog (Every Day Matters) as a result. Last week, I started actually doing it and I love it! (photos on my blog) I say, go for it, MA, you are obviously very talented in that regard (no matter what your inner critic is telling you!)!!
Posted by: Cynthia | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 09:10 AM
I love sketching in my travel journals - there's something about taking the time to capture a place and a moment by putting pencil or brush to paper that impresses the memory of it on one's mind so much more fully than words or photographs. It really belongs to you. It's been fun seeing the sketches in this Norway journal - look forward to more!
Erin in Morro Bay
Posted by: Erin Perry | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 09:26 AM
I love what you said, Mary Ann, about hating your sketches 'during' but loving them in retro. It's SO TRUE!!! took me forevah to figure that out but once I did, I just let go, and doodle any old way, any old time. I notice from the other comments here that many folks are into it, too. I just find that the sketches conjure SO much when I look back at them, way more, even, than whatever I was sketching.
Posted by: Toni Brown | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 09:50 AM
It is so cool to experience someone else's artistic passions grow and bloom. Your sketches rock and I enjoy them enormously when you share them within the pages of your journals. It's one of those things that I think one has to come to on their own terms. I think some of those seeds are dormant in our hearts until they are fed and watered with the right ingredients...with the right amount of nurturing and care, the skill begins to thrive...so in my round about way, trying to say, I LOVE your sketches because they are so uniquely yours and not overly fussy...they possess your spirit.
Posted by: Susie LaFond | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Have you ever done a post about how you find your traveling arrangements? I would love to know how you decide where to go, what your travel plans include, how you research etc.
Lovely journal.
Ally
Posted by: Ally Nielsen | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Such a great detail to add to an already fabulous journal.
Posted by: Domenico | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Ditto to all that has been said! I love your sketched pages... but it helps me to know that you hate them at first and love them later. It inspires me to draw more.
Posted by: debbiejl | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 11:28 AM
I love your sketches...I think you could sell them and make a good living at it. We are always our own worst critic, aren't we? At least you have the guts to try and, lo and behold, you're good at it! Remember, those that can...do and those that can't "criticize". Looks like all your "critics" love your work.
Posted by: Cat Graves | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 12:09 PM
What good advice, even if it wasn't intended as such! I always love your sketches, and your journals. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Chelsy | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 01:14 PM
YEAH! xoDonna
Posted by: donna, doni, lady d | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 05:01 PM
Your sketches are great. I have learned from you that less is more. When I sketch I tend to try to put in every single atom that ever existed from the big bang to now in the same space. HELLO, simple lines are so eloquent. I don't have to draw the whole orgy, just one nipple.
Posted by: violet cadburry | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 09:20 PM
Mary Ann, do you sketch "live", or later, from your pictures?
Posted by: Carol Gossett | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 09:32 PM
carol, id say half and half. i do enjoy drawing on the spot, but sometimes that isnt convenient.
Posted by: Mary Ann Moss | Thursday, August 02, 2012 at 10:29 PM
yes, they are good sketches, and it is always so satisfying to be brave and sketch and find out that you're not crazy and effed in the head, but that you knew exactly what you wanted to put there and that it looks perfect.
Posted by: Chris | Monday, August 06, 2012 at 04:21 PM