Our Europe trip planning continues, discovering that there are no direct flights from Helsinki to Montenegro we are contemplating what we have done before, that is adding a stop instead of just a layover. The best options seem to be either Vienna or Prague. And since so many people, and most recently our fellow bloggers, Grand Misadventures, recommend Prague, that is what will most likely happen.
One of the most fascinating things I want to see there is the City Clock Tower with its astronomical clocks. So I added that to our planning journal.
I am trying to include a bit of instruction along the way, and some variations in materials. Once again I will do some light pencil guidelines for the big shapes.
Two basic lines that will help is to draw a baseline the width of the structure and, especially if there is a tower, a center line the height of the building. A small ruler is perfect for doing a bit of proportion measuring, and straight lines – if it’s good enough for Michelangelo to use a straight edge, it’s ok for me.
Next I drew guides for the main shapes. The short vertical line is where the smaller spire will be.
Then I could begin sketching. I still wanted a loose rendition, but the pencil guides kept things in proportion.
With the ink drawing completed, not a ton of detail but just indicating the major shapes, I wanted to add some shade and just a bit of color. I used markers for this part. Indigo blue makers work well for shading in this kind of sketching since most shadows have blue in them and the blue adds just a hint of interesting color. The red of the building was more prominent in the image I was looking at, so I emphasized it.
Here is how the planning book looks so far. Planing is one of our favorite parts of travel, and I like sketching it out. It might be worth a try for your next journey.
Here is a plate from Lessons in Classical Drawing, by Juliette Aristides.
The famous artists were smart enough to use guides, as should we.
I hope this gives you some ideas to try for your next trip.
theTravelsketcher 
Lovely blog as usual. In my experience Prague is excellent but so is Vienna.. I really liked both of them. You cannot make a bad choice between them. It’s so nice you feel inspired to sketch the places and interesting buildings before you even get there. It will be so exciting when you see the real thing. Our next trip is to Verona next month.
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Thanks, that should be a fun trip, may be a sketch or two??
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Maybe. Most likely I will be collecting some packaging and bits and bobs for my new junk journal, it’s quite therapeutic.
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Sound like a good plan.
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I love Vienna and would stop there myself!. I so enjoy your sketching classes – you make it so effortless.
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Thanks so much, more to come, any requests?
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Oh….I just feel all my attempts are rubbish but I do feel I am learning something.
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Glad you are, as you know I write so often about how we are too harsh on ourselves. Thanks as always for following, it means a lot. Monet once wrote, mid life, that he could not produce anything worthwhile, as did Van Gogh. So we are in good company.
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Prague is beautiful (so is Vienna but my vote goes further east). Cheers.
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I’ve been to Prague and Vienna. Vienna is beautiful, but if I could only pick one, it would be Prague. Your sketch — and instruction — of the clock tower is really wonderful. Happy planning!
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Prague and Vienna are both lovely cities. There is no wrong choice here. The only bad part is that you can’t see both cities.
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