We spent our summer holidays in the French Alps this year. A whole month of catching up with friends, hiking, exploring pretty towns, flying for David and sketching outdoors for me.
You probably know by now I’m a little obsessed with sketching on location — it’s the best way to make travel memories stick. And you get to have random chats with locals (human and animal), where you learn things about a place you'd never find out otherwise.
Below are some of my sketches from our month away.
I’m not trying to give you FOMO or anything, but guess what?? My painting holidays are all about doing exactly this.
By the end of August the lavender blooms were mostly over, but I couldn't resist sketching in the largest lavender field I had ever seen. Still smelt amazing!
Lavender field, Provence
Plenty of sunshine, which meant the farmers were very busy harvesting, ploughing and planting. Below the grass all cut and the lucerne a super vibrant green.
Making hay while the sun shines.
Then the next day the field was all baled and ready for another sketch.
Sketching hay bales, France
Very hot and dry, there were not too many wild flowers left, but I did spend a morning with some wild carrots.
Wild carrots
One thing I really enjoy is revisiting scenes I've sketched before. It's always fun to see them from a different angle or vantage point.
Eglise Sant Pierre, Treminis
Our trusty van - our home away from home. So wonderful to back on the road, leaving the house renovations and the never ending to-do list behind.
Van life
The idea started in Sardinia last year, but I've continued to a super lightweight setup of coloured pencils and a tiny sketchbook on my hikes. This means I can save my water for drinking (did I say it was hot??). I've written a detailed post on my lightweight setup and how I approach these coloured pencil sketches on Patreon if you're interested.
Coloured pencil sketch in a cool forest spot while hiking in the Devoluy mountains.
Stopping to sketch on big downhills is a practise I've been following for years and years. The little rest saves my knees! Plus I'm normally on my own for the downhill part of a hike, so I can take as long as I want without worrying about anybody else getting itchy feet ;-)
Coloured pencil sketch of a stone mountain hut near Barcelonnette
The last house in Fouillouse is for sale and ready to be a renovators dream! But I'm savvy enough to know now that renovating something this remote would be quite a nightmare.
Old house nestled in vibrant fireweed, Ubaye Valley.
Potters pink is very pretty, dusty pink with an old world feel. It granulates beautifully and is very lightfast. While pretty on its own, it’s a super versatile colour to use in all sorts of ways. J...
Here's a deceptively simple painting delivers maximum impact for minimal effort — a wet-in-wet background and a limited palette do most of the work, while the result glows with light and looks far m...
There's something irresistibly paintable about a weathered fence post half-swallowed by summer wildflowers. It's the contrast that does it — rough, sun-bleached wood against the soft, fleeting delic...
