Messy Desk Dispatch: Drawing on the move
A visual diary of a trip and a great way to make a journey go faster. Here are tips, a glimpse at my first attempts at drawing in a car and how it's the perfect way to practise sequential narrative.
Hello
I really enjoy drawing when I’m travelling and I particularly like sketching a trip when I’m a passenger in a car. There’s something so cinematic about the big vistas through the windscreen that always inspires me to use my sketchbook.
I know that drawing in a car is not for everybody. I’m lucky that I don’t feel car sick except when I’m reading in a car. Somehow observational drawing is manageable and I think it’s because I’m constantly looking out at the view. If it’s not possible for you to draw when in a car, a lot of these tips and experiments can be used when on a bus or train.
When I look back at the drawings I’ve made on journeys I’m transported back to visits to friends we’ve made and holidays. Even on mundane local trips I have tried to capture something new by looking with a director’s eye.
Here are some ways I’ve experimented when drawing in a car.
Composition
The car windscreen or train window provides a frame for the view. I draw around a credit card to make panels. Small rectangles can be filled quickly and are less intimidating than a whole page. I think about composition both within the frame and on the double page spread of my sketchbook.
