Last year we went on a trip to Yellowstone National Park and while we were there, I saw somebody sketching and painting a memory. I thought this is really cool and I would love to have sketches and watercolor of trips and travel and little vignettes of time spent somewhere else or just… life.

Never have I thought of myself as “artistic”, but I was pretty jazzed to get going with this.

Immediately on that trip, I downloaded a for my first sketching book and started practicing sketching. Of course it was terrible, but I wanted to get going as soon as I could, while the inspiration still struck.

I started learning about perspective the vanishing point, shading and shadows, etc.

When we got home, I grabbed my daughter‘s watercolor sets and started practicing. I also picked up some watercolor pens to throw in my backpack to practice in my journal while I was out.

Well, I haven’t been completely consistent with this. I have started to practice more and we are starting to take more trips. I’ve been able to find some watercolor and sketching books I really like and have gotten some of my own materials that help me facilitate quick sketching and painting.

I’m getting to the point where I can sit down and bang out a sketch in five to ten minutes and either paint there or take a picture and paint at home that evening.

So, I plan on keeping this up. I’m jazzed to see where this goes.