Portugal in My Sketchbook

Since June 2024, I’ve been taking my BomoArt Sketchbook Half Leather Bound along on my bigger trips, using it to document my travels through sketches. I also collect ephemera in it, making it a kind of travel journal for trips when I’m not creating a separate one.

With only a few pages left, I decided to bring it along to Portugal, knowing it would probably be the last trip I’d document in this sketchbook.

I managed to take it with me almost everywhere, every day I was out exploring, just in case something caught my eye and I felt like sketching. Despite its weight, I was quite happy to have it in my backpack!

In Lisbon, I sketched a few neighbourhood scenes and even a random corner of the castle grounds. I spotted a big tree and simply wanted to capture it, along with the people walking around. For most of the trip, I completely forgot to take a photograph of the scene alongside my sketch. It was only on my last day in Lisbon, when I visited Belém, that I finally remembered!

A sketchbook open to a watercolor drawing of a decorative dome, with a written note beside it, held in hand. In the background, the ornate exterior of the Jerónimos Monastery is visible, with a crowd of people and parked cars in the foreground.

Fátima was a special stop, and I managed to fit in a couple of sketches there, including some sketching in the hours before I left. I was especially grateful to spend some time sketching foliage with Francisca (@franciscanunes_heartmakes). We had quite a challenge keeping our papers and little botanical models from being blown away by the strong winds!

Two women sitting on a cobblestone surface, engaged in a creative activity with art supplies and sketches laid out in front of them.

In Porto, I had a few days to explore and sketch before the art retreat began. It was lovely to wander around, find somewhere to sit, and spend some time drawing.

Watercolor sketchbook showing a colorful outdoor scene beside a palette, brush, and paint supplies — *One of those rare moments when I remembered to capture the progression of a sketch.*

Open sketchbook showing a watercolor drawing of boats beneath a bridge, held outdoors with a pencil and paint palette nearby. — *One of those rare moments when I remembered to capture the progression of a sketch.*

A person sitting on a dock, holding a sketchbook open to drawings of the Porto waterfront, featuring the iconic bridge and boats in the river.

A watercolor sketch of a river scene featuring boats and a bridge, with handwritten notes and colorful splashes.

One sketch I’m particularly proud of was a rather complex scene that I managed to capture while sitting under the midday sun! A few days later, when we crossed the bridge I’d sketched, I found myself looking at it with a little sense of accomplishment, thinking, “I sketched this!” or “Ohhh, so this is what it actually looks like!”

I also visited the tile museum and took plenty of photographs, knowing I wanted to include some of the beautiful designs in my sketchbook. There wasn’t really time to sit and sketch while I was there, so I worked on those pages later in my hotel room, using my photographs as references.

A page from a sketchbook featuring various blue floral illustrations arranged in a grid. The sketches include detailed flowers and leaves, accompanied by a watercolor background in soft pastel colors.

The last few sketches (last 2 pages) were also done from photographs, simply because I ran out of time to sketch everything on location in Porto.

And I think that’s a wrap for this not-so-light sketchbook! It’s been such a lovely companion on my travels over the past couple of years, but it’s time to start thinking about what my next travel sketchbook will be.

In the meantime, have a look through the pages and join me for a little flip-through of Portugal in My Sketchbook!