To celebrate our upcoming 50th anniversary, my husband and I booked a luxurious Danube River cruise with trip extensions at either end in Munich and Budapest. I looked forward to the trip for months, so excited to have a European adventure that didn’t involve planning and teaching a workshop.
I took a simple sketch kit along and started the trip with low expectations for what I would be able to accomplish in my journal since I would be traveling with a companion on a busy river cruise.
I pared my supplies down to the essentials, but, in the end, had everything I needed to do quick on-the-spot sketches and a bit of collage. Click on the link above to flip through the completed journal. I would still like to add some collage pages filled with photos and ephemera I picked up along the way, but the travelogue has been written, and all the sketches are finished.
The title page includes the names of all the cities we visited during our two week stay in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. The city names were all painted with watercolor and a size 0 round brush.
Fred had to visit to Deutsches Museum in Munich to see their collection of airplanes. It was nice and cool inside, so it was a great choice for a day when the temperatures soared to 95 degrees.
It was even hotter the two next days, but we managed to have fun despite the heat.
We embarked on our Uniworld cruise in Passau, Germany, and spent the next day touring the town before heading down the river to our next stop.
The sketches above were drawn with a water-soluble Elegant Writer pen. After doing the line drawings, I used a waterbrush to soften the lines and drag out the ink to make shadows. After that, a light spritz or water from a fine mist sprayer helps to lock in the ink, making it possible to watercolor over the drawing without everything turning muddy and grey. It’s a great technique that gives quick results and a unique look to the sketches.
I loved the views on the way from Passau to Linz and did a pretty sketch using only pencil lines and watercolor – no ink this time!
The sunset view from the ship where we docked in Linz was beautiful, with church towers silhouetted against a colorful sky.
Some days were very busy with excursions and sightseeing, but I still found a way to add to my journal using postcards. Everywhere we went, I saw postcards of local artists’ work, and it was fun choosing a few to include in my journal. For the day we went to Melk, Austria, I found one that depicted the impressive Melk Abbey in a loose, sketchy style – perfect for my travel journal! To help the artwork blend in, I cut out the painting rather than gluing the entire postcard onto the page.
My entry ticket to the abbey was glued onto the facing page.
Cruising through the scenic Wachau Valley was one of my favorite parts of the “Enchanting Danube” cruise, just miles and miles of rolling hills, vineyards, and cute villages tucked in next to the river.
When we arrived in the pretty village of Durnstein, rain clouds were looming on the horizon. As luck would have it, we were caught in a downpour as we walked back to the ship after a visit to a saffron farm. It was uncomfortable…and memorable!
The two days we spent in Vienna were very busy, which made it difficult to keep up with my sketching. I did not want to feel pressured to sketch every day if there just wasn’t time, so on days when it was super busy, I made notes to keep a record of our activities so I could add my journaling, along with some photos, later when I had more time. I also made sure to save some empty pages in my sketchbook for things I would record later on.
When I got home, I prepped the blank pages with a watercolor wash, then went through my photos and chose a few then printed them on matte photo paper. The matte finish makes them blend in better than glossy paper would.
After the hustle and bustle of Vienna, it was nice to have a morning of cruising the next day with nothing to do but relax. I enjoyed spending a few hours painting (when I wasn’t eating the delicious meals they prepared for us each day on the ship).
After seven wonderful days on the ship, we disembarked in Budapest and checked into our hotel, which was conveniently located near all of the major points of interest that we planned to see. We were able to walk everywhere and take as much time as we liked in each place, since we weren’t on a schedule anymore.
I was really enjoying using the Elegant Writer pen for some of my sketches, but when I decided to tackle the ornate Hungarian Parliament Building, I switched to my trusty Platinum Fountain Pen so I could do a more detailed drawing with permanent ink.
Check out this post to see a step-by-step tutorial showing how I painted the sketch.
Our last day in Budapest was the sort of day I always envision when I’m planning a trip: a leisurely breakfast followed by a stroll along the river, seeing eye-opening architecture and a moving war memorial. Then a pause to sketch for an hour or so before settling into a chair at a sidewalk cafe to enjoy coffee and a pastry. With hours still remaining in the day, there was plenty of time to take in another landmark or two (like the Opera House, below) and do some window shopping before heading back to the hotel for a delicious dinner.
The painting of the Opera House on the page above is actually a postcard that I bought at a shop in Budapest. I glued it into my sketchbook, then drew borders on the left and right side that coordinate with the style of the artwork. I love how it turned out.
I enjoyed putting together this map of our itinerary after I got home. (I hesitated to do it before the trip because I was afraid our ship might be rerouted due to low water levels. Then my map would have been wrong.) It was a good way to look back over all the places we had been and relive some of the beautiful memories we made.
I’m very happy that I was able to keep an illustrated journal of what was a very special trip for me and Fred. I never felt obligated to sketch, or guilty if I didn’t sketch, but sketching is such a part of me that it would have felt like something important was missing if I hadn’t recorded our experiences in my own way, with pen, paint, and written journaling. Keeping my supplies simple and incorporating mixed media elements in order to save time made it all doable.
I hope you enjoyed this peek into our anniversary getaway. I hadn’t originally planned to share it online, but I thought it might encourage you to see that, even during an activity-filled vacation, it’s possible to do some sketching and make a very real and personal connection to the places you’re seeing.
PS – If you would like to sketch on a river cruise, check out my upcoming Rhine River Sketching Workshop cruise in July 2027. The cruise will include four instructors teaching various watercolor sketching techniques. It promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience! And since the cruise is organized around painting, you’ll have plenty of time to create a travel journal while also immersing yourself in the sites and culture of the River Rhine. I hope you’ll join us!
22 Comments
Love this Leslie! It was worth watching the YouTube sketchbook share as the colours are much more vibrant than the photos in the newsletter. I checked out the Elegant Writer pens on Amazon. Do you use all 4 sizes or just the finest one? As always your sketchbook pages are delightful! Such creative layouts and beautiful sketches. Glad you decided to share it.
Peri
Thanks, Peri! Glad you enjoyed it.
With the Elegant Writer, I usually draw with the corner of the nib to get a fine line. I tilt it and use the broad side only when I want a wide dark area. So it doesn’t really matter what size nib you have since you’re only using the edge of it to draw. I always buy the multi pack that has all four sizes, and I use them all.
Just fabulous! I did this same trip some years back and your sketchbook brought back all my memories of the history, beauty and culture. I like how you incorporated different media including the post cards and cut-out pictures. Thank you for sharing your anniversary trip!
It really was a wonderful cruise. I love river cruising. Not too many people, and the excursions were very good.
Glad you like the mixed media approach I used this time. It felt a little like cheating, but I think it ended up making for a more varied and interesting journal.
Leslie, thank you for sharing. It looks like you had a wonderful trip and created a lovely journal of your adventures. As always, it is so inspiring to see your art.
It was perfect from start to finish. That rarely happens when I’m traveling – maybe Fred brought the good luck!
Thank you so much, Leslie, for this tutorial. Like your handbooks, this will be a reference I will refer to often and continue to grow as an artist.
I’m glad you are finding it useful – makes all my work seem worthwhile.
Leslie, I just took the French Escapades Rhine river cruise early this month. It was fabulous! The team is so good at what they do. I know you and all the participants will enjoy it, too.
I’m really looking forward to it. My friend Cheryl was on the cruise, too, and had nothing but good things to say about it. Looked like you all had a great time.
Oh Leslie, this was such a treat to see your sketches, paintings and writings about your trip. I loved how you incorporated postcards into your trip journal. I recently pulled out my Croatia sketch journal and was happy to relive that trip.
Happy 50th to you and Fred.
Thank you, Bonnie. That Croatia trip stands out as one of my favorites.
Leslie, I am in such awe. Your sketches and paintings are even more impressive than when I first started following you. And THAT’S why I keep taking your workshops!!
That’s so kind of you, Sharon, and such an encouragement. Thank you!
Really? A light spritzing of water after your drawing with the Elegant Writer pen’s ink and that “sets” the marked lines and you can really watercolor over it then with no blurry? Really? I’m off to buy one of these sets–sounds like a fun process and only one pen to take (I don’t do really fine lines/details these days due to tremor so no need for a really detail pen). But I will take my little water spray bottle!
The light mist of water helps to set the lines to some extent, but I’m still careful not to slosh paint randomly over the black lines. Instead, I paint up to the lines, barely touching them with the paint. The lighter shadow areas don’t seem to be affected by water coloring over them, and the mist helps to minimize the bleeding of the dark ink lines, but if there is a heavier dark line, the light mist of water won’t set the ink 100%. It takes some experimentation to see exactly how the Elegant Writer works on the paper you’re using. I’m learning more all the time about how to best incorporate watercolor with the water-soluble ink.
Oh Leslie, such a beautiful travel journal! I so wish I had some art skills to join you on your trips! Two of my favorite seminars were at your Summerhill long weekend! You are the best and such a gifted artisan!
Hi Debbie – I have beginners all the time in my classes. You’re welcome to join me on a trip. There’s no time like the present to give sketchbook journaling and watercolor a try. It’s a very accessible and non-threatening form of expression. We aren’t trying to create masterpieces; we’re just capturing memories visually. Everyone’s style is different, and that’s okay; you just have to start where you are. If you have a longing to do it, you should. What do you have to lose? 🙂
Leslie, you are always an inspiration! Ever since my first workshop with you in 2019, followed by my first French Escapade in Spain, I have been excited by your combination of art and written journaling. I love collecting bits and pieces of tickets and cuttings from brochures then deciding how to format them on the page to tell my story. So that it doesn’t turn into a scrapbook, I make sure that each spread has at least one or two of my watercolors. My journals are so precious to me! I thank you so much for putting me on this fulfilling road!
One question: How much of this last journal did you do while on the trip? Thanks to other instructors I have become less nervous about plein air, but when it comes to finalizing, I am not as time efficient as I would like and do a lot of it when I return home. What is your advice?
I’m so happy to hear that watercolor journaling has been such a great addition to your life. Your work is wonderful, and I love seeing how much satisfaction it brings you.
I did quite a bit of this journal during the trip. A lot of days, I had several hours in the afternoon to complete a page that I started earlier in the day. Or I would draw a sketch or two using reference photos when I didn’t have time to sketch onsite. The things that were left for later at home were 1) The pages where I printed out photos and glued them in, 2) The title page, 3) The itinerary map, and 4) The Parliament building painting. (I had drawn it plein air, but painted it later in the studio.) Everything else was pretty much done while I was traveling. It helped that 1) the sketchbook was only 6″ square, so it didn’t take all that much time to complete a page, 2) I left some sketches as black and white drawings, and 3) I used the Elegant Writer pen, so I could get the drawing and shading done quickly then just add some quick spots of color to complete the sketches. After being away for two weeks, I had a lot to catch up on when I got home, but, surprisingly, I finished this journal in less than two weeks. That’s the quickest I’ve ever managed to complete one of my travel journals.
Congratulations on your 50th Anniversary Leslie. What a wonderful way to mix all the loves of your life in a two week celebration! I am in awe of how quickly and efficiently you work.
Sharing your artwork with us all is such a gift.
Thankyou
Jude M
It’s so nice to hear from you, Jude! Glad you’re enjoying the posts. Hope to meet up again one day.