This is one of my favorite pages from my France 2025 journal. It was the first project I did with my class at the start of my Giverny workshop, and it brings back memories of sitting in the courtyard of our hotel, taking in the shuttered windows and geranium-filled window boxes, spindly metal cafe table, and lovely old buildings covered with vines.
I love sketching on location, outdoors in the sunshine, where everything I need to know about a scene is there for the taking. The light, colors, and form are all clear and true.
It’s nothing like painting from a photograph.
I finished off this page with a decorative text box and a hand-lettered title.
The facing page is filled with journaling about the day. A pretty border frames the written paragraph, with colors selected to coordinate with the sketch on the previous page.
The tour was off to a good start!
To read earlier posts about this 2025 France travel journal, check out these links:
