Alcázar of Seville
I have imagined returning to Spain for many decades. This summer I was able to return with my husband and my sketchbook for a 3-week trip through Barcelona, Granada, Seville, and Madrid. I was grateful to slow down and enjoy the experience with a more mature perspective this time.
My 100 days of sketching happened during our trip to Spain, so it gave me an opportunity to take my daily drawing practice on vacation. However, it took some time and a practiced eye to search for that ideal sketching spot; a spot where the sun was at my back, lighting up my subject. Thankfully cafés abound in Spain, and for the price of a café con leche, I had a great view and a seat for about one hour of sketching.
In Barcelona, we were lucky to stay in a hotel room with a second-floor balcony overlooking a bustling plaza. Several times, I sat with the balcony doors open and sketched the view below. In the morning the smells of melted chocolate wafted from the boutique shops on the square below our hotel, and each evening the locals played their guitars and sang Spanish love songs for the tourists crowding the Tapas bars.
“Everything you can
imagine is real.”
Pablo Ruiz Picasso
During our travels, the words of Picasso echoed through my mind, “Everything you can imagine is real.” And my imagination took me back to Spain many times after my post-college European vacation. I imagined walking the streets of Madrid, viewing the architecture of Barcelona, absorbing the great art in the Prado Museum, and sketching along the river in Seville. And, as Picasso promised, it all became a reality!
When I return home, the sketchbooks are my favorite souvenir. I share these visual notes and drawings with my family and friends, and all the wonderful memories come flooding back as I review my visual diary.
Guadalquivir river in Seville