Quarto the traveling sketchbook

It may have taken just over a month but I finally have Quarto photographed, scanned, uploaded, and in the process of printing! I actually photographed Quarto on one of my first mornings back in California and just got around to editing them tonight...oops. 

I'm currently printing designs so a shop update is in the very near future (finally)! I also have a couple designs already uploaded to the Society6 shop. In the meantime, take a peek at the final sketches! These are some of my favorites and the whole sketchbook is on my website. 

Quarto the traveling sketchbook: update IV

How did two months just pass by so quickly?! In just over a week, I'll be making the reverse hellish trip back to California. Which is daunting. I'm excited to see everyone back home but this place is always so hard to leave. The food, the people, the sites...things you just can't get back home. 

One thing that I started doing this summer was taking photos of Quarto with the actual location I just sketched. I LOVE this series of photos! It's one thing to have a sketch to remember the place, but the combination of the sketch and the exact spot at that exact moment I sketched it is something really unique for me. Sometimes I can get the whole scene, other times it's just a little bit of the place. Either way I really love the double documentation of a place. 

1. My friend Susie and I climbed up the Campanile in Florence. Originally she wanted to do the Duomo but the line wrapping halfway around the back of the dome changed our minds. In the end, the bell tower had better views of the Duomo and some shady spots to sketch and read! 
2. The most perfect little mint Vespa! I sketched it first and then watercolored a postcard of it. Once I get home, these little postcards are going straight to the Notional Notions Etsy shop! I haven't been this excited for a shop update in a long time! 
3. The Anfiteatro here in Lucca. I've been working on this sketch for most of the summer. Which meant getting a gelato every time to claim my same vantage point...what a shame.
4. Piazza San Frediano was never really on my list of places to sketch but I'm so glad that I got pushed to (via some suggestions on Instagram). Such a pretty space.

5. One day I want to own a vintage Fiat 500. It's the cutest car (sorry VW Bug...)
6. I took a day trip to Siena last week, just in time to see it set up for the Palio race this weekend. I love this space, and it was fun to see it set up for the traditional horse race. Seeing the actual track set up makes imagining the horse race seem all the more dangerous. 
7. A visit to Siena isn't complete without visiting my favorite restaurant, Osteria Nonna Gina. Stuffed gnocchi in a secret sauce, fried zucchini blossoms, fresh focaccia, Chianti and a bit of Amaretto for a digestivo...love! 
8. I first sketched the Siena Duomo as a student but I never finished that sketch. It was nice to finally sit down and document the whole crazy beast. The next hard bit was finding my favorite part of the inlaid sidewalks around it to photograph Quarto with. 

Hopefully I'll be able to do another Quarto update before I leave. If not, the next time you see Quarto (if not on Instagram) will be once she's all scanned up and printed for the next Sketchy Notions shop update! 

Did you miss the other updates? Update I  | Update II | Update III

Quarto the traveling sketchbook: update III

I'm down to my last month in Italy. It's always scary how fast the time goes by here. The pages in Quarto are filling up fast too, I have just about 3 signatures left to fill. Then comes all the work of scanning and preparing for a new collection of travel postcards for the Fall! 

Here's a peek at the progress. You can also check out the other updates too: Update I, Update II

1. Hands from the Bargello Museum in Florence. Practicing writing in Italian and playing with my new Fabriano washi tape and found feathers. 
2. Postcard stash, lyrics and a new favorite Italian quote. And the back stairs at Santa Chiara in Castiglion Fiorentino. 
3. A couple moody spots around Lucca. 
4. The most perfect teal Vespa in all of Lucca! This street had the most irresistible shadows...

5. Inside my favorite restaurant in Cortona! And a quiet little archway in Lucca on one of the busiest streets in town. 
6. The walls. Oh the walls...
7. We made a quick day trip to Viareggio and had a gorgeous beach day! 
8. Yesterday we went off to Florence for the day too. We took the bus up to San Miniato, which has the best view of the entire city. 

Also, did you enter my postcard giveaway? Go see if you won! 

Quarto the traveling sketchbook: update II

Happy 4th of July! This past week has been pretty crazy. I headed back to Castiglion Fiorentino for just a couple days. I woke up just after 4 am Tuesday to take the 6:09 train in order to have a full day there. My friend Heather, who was in the same summer study abroad session as me, was waiting at the station on her way to Florence. Such perfect timing! 

I made the trek up the hill and headed straight to Santa Chiara to say hello. None of the ladies in the kitchen knew I was coming and it was so much fun to surprise all of them. I was able to eat lunch with all of them and spent the day cruising around town finding old friends. 

The UT Austin and Houston students also had their final exhibit that night at the center. It was a fantastic show! It's fun to see sketchbooks from current students and think back to the first sketches I made in that town 5 years ago. 

After dinner there was a band in the courtyard. It's the last week in Italy for all these students and it was great to see them having so much fun in this special space. Afterwards we went out to watch the USA vs Belgium soccer game. It was a very full day...

Wednesday my friend Veronica took me up into the Val di Chio to visit her friend and see her horses! I even got to ride one bareback for a bit. I caught up with a lot of friends that night too. 

Thursday my printmaking friend Rick and I went to Florence and sketched the Bargello and visited all our favorite art shops; Zecchis, Casa della Stilografica and the Fabriano shop. Afterwards, I caught the train back to Lucca and went home to fry up some stuffed zucchini blossoms! Oofah!  It was a pretty surreal couple of days but absolutely perfect. I was able to get a lot of sketches done too, and I've started collaging in Quarto. Here's a peek at the progress so far...

1. The infamous stairs that I spent many hours hauling crates of vegetables and water up during my internship. They're quite pretty when you're not struggling to carry stuff up them. Also I started easing my way back into collaging...
2. This is the sketch I started on after I made that Instagram photo I mentioned last post...
3. From my trip to Florence last week. I was able to visit Santa Croce and sketch it again! 
4. I've been playing around with different sketching techniques...color blocking and just quick lines then color. Pretty fun.
5. I've been trying to read La Testa degli Italiani...in Italian...these are my notes of words to look up, along with a watercolor from here in Lucca. 

6. Quick watercolor of the Anfiteatro in Lucca and some lists...
7. I woke up early one day and biked over to Piazza San Michele here in Lucca. The perfect spot for a cappuccino and a sketch before the tourists wake up!
8. Working on some new food related postcards. And the Loggia in Castiglion Fiorentino! 
9. The view from the courtyard at Santa Chiara in Castiglion Fiorentino. And the sweetest little chicken I met in the Val di Chio! 
10. Sketches from my horse adventure in Petreto in the Val di Chio. My favorite sculpture from the Bargello in Florence. 

The rest of the progress: Quarto update I

Quarto the traveling sketchbook: update I

This first week of traveling and sketching with Quarto has been really productive! I'm already through a signature and a half! I don't think I was even this productive with Terzo two years ago...

This batch of sketches is mostly from Lucca but there's a couple that I made in New York and Santa Barbara during the trek over. I also made a quick visit to Pisa today. It hit me yesterday that in all the time I've spent over here, I had yet to sketch the famed tower! So I hopped on a train this morning and waded through the masses of tourists to sketch the tower at last. 

1. First sketch to break in Quarto at the Santa Barbara Airport.

2. I met my friend Amanda in New York and went on a Chelsea spree in the Chelsea neighborhood! We also walked along the High Line and had some bagels from Murrays.

3. Testing out my new calligraphy brush pen on Via Santa Croce in Lucca.

4. Watercoloring up on the walls of Lucca, again at last! 

5. Piazza San Martino in Lucca.

6. Slowly working on sketching all the rooftops I can from the terrace on the top floor...

7. Also working on mapping the city at last! And a sketch from the busier portion of Via Santa Croce in the center of town.

8. Tourists of Lucca and the facade of Cattedrale San Martino.

9. Pisa! The Tower took a while to draw but I'm glad that I finally have a sketch of it. Then I couldn't resist having some fun sketching everyone in their various poses trying to hold/kick/pinch/hug/push the tower! 

10. Another watercolor of the walls...this is one of my favorite sections on the wall, it has the lushest trees and the best moody lighting...

I'm so curious to see what this fat beast will look like once I'm through with it in a few weeks. The transformation of Terzo was pretty crazy, just a modest black sketchbook that swelled until it was fat and happy and full of Italy. So excited to see what I find these next couple months. 

Until the next update you can follow along with my everyday photos on Instagram! 

Venice Beach sketches

I spent a couple days last week down in the odd but awesome Venice Beach. I LOVE Venice Beach. I've loved it since I was little. Yes, it is filthy. Yes, it is crowded. Yes, the parking is terrible. BUT! It's at the beach, it's surrounded by good food, it's eclectic in every way, everyone (I swear, EVERYONE) has succulents in their front yards, and there are canals. The canals are my favorite part of Venice. I could spend all day cruising up and down them sketching and shopping for my dream house. One day...

1. Every time I visit Venice, I always try to sketch at Cafe Collage. It's right on the corner by the famous Venice sign. Plus they have pretty tasty coffee. 

2. I was lucky enough to be there on a Friday for the Venice Farmer's Market. I got my tasty pastry and cruised the canals for an early morning sketch. 

3. I sketched this my first night back in town at the Canal Club. 

4. A quick sketch of the coastline from the Venice Pier

5. Watercoloring the canals, right around the corner from my dream house! 

6. A little souvenir from the beach, inside and out

7. One of my favorite restaurants down there is C & O Trattoria. We used to always go there when I was little. Tasty Italian food in a very entertaining space. 

And a couple photos too...

Have you been to Venice Beach before? Do you like it or hate it?