The Travelsketcher’s Tuesday – Reviewing a pen


Last week I was contacted by Alizza, from Ellington Pens. She had read my post about traveling with pens and she wanted to know if I would be interested in reviewing one of their fountain pens. If you follow this blog you know there is no way I would say no to a free pen….

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip


There is no magic pencil – or pen, or marker, or brush – art is a process of repeated iterations. My name is theTravelsketcher and I am a Niffler when it comes to shiny new art stuff. Unpacking my art things from storage and from France makes it clear that I have more unused, or…

3 Times not to travel-sketch


Yes! I always have something with me so I can sketch, always. Yes! Sketching always beats taking selfies. Yes! Sketching makes travel exponentially more rewarding and memorable. Travel-sketching is all about capturing the moment, slowing down enough to actually look and see what you spent all that money and vacation time to be standing in front…

Graphite and pencils revisited


Ink, specifically a fountain pen, is my go-to sketching implement. My first sketches were with Rapidograph and Micron pens, no watercolor and rarely any pencil. Over the years the Rapidograph was retired as being too difficult to keep clean and operating, likely due to my ignorance about the perils of India Ink’s carbon particles ability…

My new pochade box finally came!


My last blog described my transition to theTravelsketcher. Today my gift to myself finally came – Amazon left the unit number off the address, resulting in an extra day of unwelcome delayed gratification. My SOHO Urban Artist Pochade Box arrived at lunchtime. For those unfamiliar, a Pochade box is one of the ways that plein…