Amanda and I were in Europe for a good chunk of June and the first bit of July.
I had hoped to do a lot of drawing there. I did some. Not as much as I'd hoped...
I took a lot of pictures and will probably do more drawing from those pictures now that we are home. Eventually I'll get around to sharing them here. Maybe.
These are a few sketches I did in Carcassonne.
(There are others I did in the castle I'll share at some point!)
Both of these were on Pont Neuf where we were waiting for the Tour de France riders to roll by at the beginning of Stage Four of the 2026 Tour de France. We were there really early, as I had expected a lot of people might want to hang out here to take pictures.. so I had a lot of time to draw - while standing around in the +38°C heat!!
THIS is the reason why - from Pont Neuf there was a pretty great view of the castle of Carcassonne!
So I could end up with shots like...
This is one of my favourites. In that line in the foreground, on the left in yellow is the current race leader #1 Tadej Pogačar, who had won the tour the previous year and won it again this year! On the other end of the line is #32 Derek Gee-West - the sole Canadian riding in the Tour this year!
If they look like they're out for a chill, casual ride... it's because they are. This was part of the Depart Fictif - where they rolled through town past all the crowds and sites... the ACTUAL start of the stage was a few kilometres outside of town. it was already +38°C when they rolled by and expected to be +40°C as the day went on, so there was no need to do more than what was necessary to get them to the start!
This veiw is looking the other way down the street, where we would first see the cyclists approaching from.
Like so...
Both of the sketches were drawn on location, but the colouring with watercolours was done later.
At some point I'll post some more pics of drawings I've done (and will do...).
AND at some point, I'll probably do a post on the Bike Blog about the carnival that was the depart for the fourth stage of the 2026 Tour de France! (and maybe something about bicycles in Amsterdam and Paris...?). We shall see...
Nice! I have a lot of respect for those urban/travel sketchers who can fill up a sketchbook from a trip. I sometimes attempt to do something, but I'm often too busy doing stuff to draw. I do take a bit of photos, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteHa-ha! For reals. It is simultaneously inspiring and utterly dispiriting seeing what other people can get done during a trip... or even just during an average week at home!? I think they key is getting it through our thick skulls that drawing IS "doing stuff" and when we feel like we need to DO STUFF on vacation, it's okay to do just that... In fact, we NEED to SCHEDULE it in that THAT is the STUFF we actually want to do!!
Being in the HABIT of daily drawing probably helps... I had plans to force myself to get out and draw every day between when I finished my final and when we left on vacation - six weeks!! - did I do ANY drawing in that time!? (not much!) What DID I do!? (I have no idea...)
Yeah, sketching regularly helps. I do like it when I got on the daily drawing bandwagon, but once I fall off it's hard to get back up. Maybe before the next big trip I should get into the daily habit, so I can rely on momentum for a bit.
DeleteI can't imagine doing it on a bike tour... though I know there have been a few people I followed on Instagram that cranked out drawings daily while or tour... or... maybe it just SEEMED more often than it actually was. I feel like after a day of riding, the last thing I'd want to do is feel like I HAVE to sit down and draw something. It had been my intention to draw comics every day when we rode the Icefields Parkway... did not draw a single thing that entire trip!! Maybe if it was a SUPER CHILL tour that didn't involve a lot of cycling each day and staying in hotels or B&Bs and didn't require setting up camp or anything... or maybe cycling one day, hanging out in a location for a day (or two) before moving on!?
DeleteInspiring me to have a go…
ReplyDeleteAlan Tradgardland
Thanks Alan!
DeleteWait... "Have a go" at what...? Sketching or visiting Carcassonne or riding in the Tour de France? Regardless of your answer, I say DO IT! (and please post pics on your blog when you do!)