Camino Sketchbook Review

In September this year I managed to temporarily escape daily life and fulfil one of my dreams – walking the Camino de Santiago. But being a creative sort, just walking across a country in 40 days wasn’t enough. I set myself the challenge of documenting my journey in a little watercolour sketchbook.

I’ve always used sketchbooks to document my daily life and they usually end up a messy hodgepodge of ideas. But by sticking to one theme, and using just a few minutes every day to document my experience, I created something that surprised me.

I adore this sketchbook, not just for the drawings but for what it represents: achieving my dreams, completing little goals, growing and developing. I’ve always wanted my sketchbooks to be beautiful finished products, and my normal mindset would have had me chucking away the first few pages as soon as they were drawn (I’ll admit I’ve been guilty of selectively ripping pages out of sketchbooks before!), but by taking that pressure off of myself and letting the sketchbook be what it should be -a messy collection of scribbles- I managed to create my most beautiful and treasured sketchbook yet.

67 thoughts on “Camino Sketchbook Review”

  5. John says:
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    Wow, what a fabulous and inspiring sketchbook! Sketchbooks are something I continually struggle with… I have loads of unfinished sketchbooks as I get frustrated at having to look at my usually failed efforts! I seem much happier working on loose sheets that I can discard of more easily but seeing the continuity and development in your sketchbook – not to mention the collection of thoughts, memories and experiences that it will always serve to rekindle is really inspiring!

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  7. profundareflexion says:
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    Wow! Just wow! All I do when traveling is click loads of pictures – because you know – I can, but then forget about them when I am back home. I am very inspired by you. So even though I can’t sketch as you do, at least I should document my travel with some chosen pictures :).

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  9. Alec Harper says:
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    I am simply amazed at all of the talent out on WordPress! What a wonderfully illustrated journal. It seems as though the sketches precede the text? The coloring chart at the beginning… why I may have to adopt that! Cheers.

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  14. kristykay5 says:
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    I love this…well done! My sister and I walked the Camino Frances in 2014. I blogged every day so I definitely relate to making time at the end of the day to “get it done”.

    My sister and I are working on an art project, NuestroCamino, about our journey and are looking to include stories from our fellow pilgrims. We’d love to have something from you! If you’re interested, you can find more details on http://www.heatherharrisart.com/nuestrocamino/#involve.

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