15 Comments

  • Emily DeArdo says:

    This is a great idea! I’m doing my first “big” sketching trip, although it’s nothing like yours–just a week–and this is a great exercise. I’m definitely going to implement this idea.

  • Joanna Guglielmino says:

    Liz,
    First of all, Palladian Odyssey I (One) was such a wonderful journey! Today I reviewed my trip with an Italian friend and his husband and shared my sketches. I felt the joy of our friendly group, the beauty of the location, and historic structures all over again! Our (2 1/2 hour) coffee visit was a reminder of your very fine teaching, your excellent detailed notes, your supportive nature, and your enthusiasm! So to you, mille grazie, a thousand thanks! And to Mike, another big thanks for his perfect organizing. It was fabulous!

    Your review of gear is such a great idea! I’ve done it with my sketching equip, and was motivated to buy a smaller sketching stool. I’m making another mini-palette of Italian (aka Liz) pigments featuring the all important PP, MANS and TRO. NOW I understand and love them!
    Best, Joanna

    • Liz Steel says:

      oh! thanks Joanna – no words to describe how much I enjoy the PO Tours and having you on it. Hope to see you again soon!

  • Bob Cochran says:

    When I travel on business I like to ship all the bulky stuff separately to my destination hotel or other lodging. For me there is no point to carrying everything with me. It is burdensome. Why not ship it ahead? If I’m inside the USA, that makes a lot of sense for me. It speeds up the travel, in fact. I contact the hotel and make arrangements for them to hold my package. Sometimes there is a hotel charge, and of course I pay shipping for the package, but it is worth it to arrive at my hotel knowing my stuff is already there. My goal is to reduce things to one small suitcase plus a backpack to carry a laptop computer in.

    I’m not sure what the cost of shipping your things from Australia to your destination would be, and international shipments can hit very sticky problems. I recently postal mailed a gift to a friend — a stainless steel insulated travel mug. This arrived in London very quickly. Unfortunately it was shipped back to Boston, Massachusetts. Then it went to Jamaica, New York, and from there it went back to London. There it sat in a Royal Mail facility for a couple of weeks. Finally, it was delivered…to the wrong person. Happily, this person is the honest sort and put a new shipping label on the package with the name and address of the real recipient. And it was delivered to my friend. There was weeks of delay.

    Still, it might be worth it to you to try an experiment and ship some things ahead of you, to your destination.

    Lastly…perhaps you can discover the name of a store in Chicago that sells international foods, or even foods sold in Australia. Some stores might even deliver to your premises. Worth checking into, perhaps?

    • Liz Steel says:

      Hi Bob, sadly postage to and from Australia is very expensive. On a long trip a few years ago I had to post numerous small packages home and they all cost $50 each to post.
      Great that it has worked for you so well in the past.

  • Bob Cochran says:

    I just had a thought after realizing that today will be in the low 90 degrees Fahrenheit here on the East Coast of the USA: when you arrive in Chicago, go to the nearest pharmacy or drug store or even a convenience store like 7-11 and buy sunscreen lotion for use when you are outdoors. I’ve never been to Chicago but I imagine the heat and sunshine there can be brutal. If you have an Amazon account, you could visit Amazon.com (the American website, not the Australian one) and place an order and have it delivered to the location you prefer. That will reduce shipping charges and you will have a carefully packed box of travel essentials all ready to be unpacked and used — right there onsite.

    • Liz Steel says:

      thanks for the suggestion!
      We know all about sunscreen here in Australia and I have a special spray on version that I love. If its good enough for the burning sun in Australia (sun is fiercer in the southern hemisphere due to the tilt of the earth) it does the job overseas. I never mind taking a heavy bathroom bag as it will be lighter on the way home. More room for books… which are much more expensive in Oz 🙂
      BTW we don’t have an australian Amazon site – hard to believe I know

  • Ellen Jenkins says:

    Hi Liz, I am going on my first overseas painting holiday from US to Italy – and this is very useful information. Thank you! Hope you have time to offer a little more information about how to carry everything – on plane? when sketching? what do you carry passport, $$, camera, phone, etc in? Other tips? Thank you!!

    • Liz Steel says:

      Hi Ellen, hope you have a great time in Italy!!!! Answering your question properly would be quite involved and since I have such a quick turnaround between my trips I won’t have time to do it justice. I am not a light packer, so you would probably be better off looking at some travel sites for ideas. But who knows you might see some more travel related sketches in the next month or so.

  • Dionne Carter says:

    Liz I love the idea of sketching what you pack and then reviewing it so the next time you can perfect it.(as much as possible)
    I also was wondering where is the info about Chicago? Are you teaching there?

  • Mary McJunkin says:

    Liz, can’t wait to meet you at the USK Symposium. I was late to sign up and only got a basic pass. Was even limited on choice of demo. That’s ok, it will be fun meeting artists whose work I’ve admired. Enjoy your website and all the extensive research you do.

  • Kathy Mills says:

    Liz. I’m trying to decide on a sketchbook to take to Chicago for the Urban Sketchers Symposium. What sketchbook did you take on your trip to Italy and Scotland?

    • Liz Steel says:

      Hi Kathy, its an A4 watercolor moleskine. It is big, heavy and a little awkward to use, but I love the freedom of the big size. For the symposium, i recommend you take a sketchbook which you already feel comfortable using.

  • CJ SUN says:

    Totally lacking in any natural artistic talent, I do the same thing upon the return from my trips but I just [sigh…so mundane] write it down.

    My cousin and I are on a quest to be able to travel the world (in trips lasting up to 2 weeks) with just a carry-on piece of luggage, so paring down and figuring out what worked, what was actually needed and what was extraneous is a good exercise.

    Love your work!

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