Do I need to carry a sketchbook when I have an iPhone?

I'm packing to leave for Paris on the weekend. I have made my 'Perfect Journal' and am finally the owner of an iPhone 3GS. Both of these will slide into my shoulder bag and accompany me everywhere. Each has it's uses... but doesn't the iPhone win? (if there was a competition).


My iPhone is my new favourite thing. I will take a photo (at the very least) every where I go and these will be geotagged. T will be carrying a supa-dupa camera (it's his passion) and will be taking his own photos. My geotagged photos will assist him in identifying where he took his photos as he sifts through what will be thousands of shots when he gets back.

My iPhone will tell me where I am. We have a month in Paris and we are by nature wanderers. Last time we were there (which was also our first time) we frequently tossed up whether to go to ___ which is what we planned, or keep wandering because it was beautiful right where we were. (That's the thing about Paris, EVERYTHING is beautiful. You don't really have to see 'the sites' because what you are looking at every second is beautiful.)


The downside of being a wanderer is that you don't really know exactly where you are at any given time. We would get back to our apartment and find we had been just near ___ and not known, missed it completely. So our dilemma became whether to go purposefully back through our wandered territory, or go somewhere new. New always won of course, so there were things we missed. This time we will be able to wander AND to know where we are. But not only that, my iPhone will give us access to our Google Map.

We have created our own Google Map with place markers on it of all the places we would like to go "if we end up near there." We haven't put our must-see's on it, just the addresses of little shops, restaurants, markets and streets that we have read about or been told about. You know, you hear about a place and think "That sounds perfect! I must go there" and when you check the map it is way out to billy-o and it doesn't really warrant a full blown excursion just for the 'cute little ceramic shop'. But should we wander that way, we won't miss it this time!


And then there are the applications. It really is the 'apps' that makes the iPhone a winner over and above other smart phones. I have my translator app, the plan and tour app for the Palace of Versailles, lots of other travel apps. Then there are the photography apps. I was worried about the quality of the 3mpx camera, I would have like more, but the quality is surprisingly good and the sheer fun and pleasure the apps bring to taking photos is quite exhilarating. (I took these photos of my sketchbook with my iPhone!)


Oh and I can use it as a phone too. And email. And blogging and flickr and Facebook and twitter etc etc. Or listen to music. Or play games. (I wouldn't of course. I'd draw in my sketchbook instead!) So, my sexy little piece of hardware reduces the number of things I carry quite substantially; phone, camera, ipod, gps, guide book(s) and maps at the very least. And it weighs less than my ipod alone does.

My sketchbook, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. It creates more things I need to carry. I need my pens, my watercolours, water brushes, blotting paper, tissues to clean up with, glue, (and if the world was a different place) scissors or a knife; lucky I don't carry pencils and erasers any more.


The photos I intend to take are different from the ones T will take. They will be shots of patterns, details and reference shots for paintings I intend to do when I come back. I can get a lot of these shots taken in the time it takes to do a single sketch. It was the time it takes to do the sketches that surprised me last time. When you have the possibility of fitting in seeing Place Vendome this afternoon versus finishing the sketch you are doing in Place des Voges instead it actually gets a little stressful. We didn't see Place Vendome last time. It is on our list (and the Google Map) for this time.

This is part of the reason I wanted to stay for so long this time. To ease the pressure around the time it takes to sit and draw and see and experience and even wander. I don't know if we will actually have time to see everything on our list even with a month! But if I didn't take my sketchbook, if I only took my iPhone we could get around it all. I could paint from the photos I take and those photos would take me right back to the spot... or would they?

And I think that is the real difference between my sketchbook and my iPhone. When I look back through my sketchbooks I am truly transported back to that exact moment. I can see, hear, smell it all again. Vividly. When I flip back through my photos of last time I find myself thinking "where was that?"

I'll carry them both. I'll let you know who wins. I suspect there actually won't be a winner, that it will be more of a truce. But I'll let you know.
ps. This time I made my perfect travel journal out of a book with the all-time perfect title. Guess how long I'm going to be in Paris!? I filled it with my favourite paper - all the one kind this time because that is how I wanted it to be. It also has some pages from an old Paris Guide Book scattered throughout. I had another Paris book with beautiful illustrations in it that I was also going to incorporate. The book is in poor condition so a prime candidate for rebinding however I discovered it is a reasonably valuable book and a first edition. I couldn't bring myself to pull it apart. It has an elastic closer and a ribbon place marker, some loose sheets of blotting paper, but that is all this time. I wanted a simple version of my usual rebound journal this time. I love it. It IS perfect!

'Perfume from Provence' - Nice

The main reason we went to Nice was for Matisse! We were only to be there two nights so as soon as we arrived we asked directions to the Matisse museum... only to find out it had closed (only a week before we got there!) for 8 months! But we had a lovely time at the Chagall museum and set of to Vence to see the Matisse chapel the next day.


When we got to Vence we felt lucky to find a small exhibition of his work in the gallery there. We did get to see this - and it was fantastic - but when we asked for directions to the Chapel itself, we were told that it was closed!!! (It was the first day of the new quieter season openings!) We walked around to see it from the road all the same, to find you just can't see anything from the road! It must simply mean I'll have to go back!

We did go to St. Paul de Vence though, to the Fondation Maeght. Now this is a museum to see! Calder, Miro, Arp, Braque, Motherwell, Matisse (yes, there was one or two), Picasso, Ernst, Kandinsky etc etc etc etc etc (three etc's would not fully describe the extent of it...)


So go to Nice - for the art - it is magnificant! Just wait until after July 2007 to make sure you get a big dose of Matisse... and stay tuned here for the story about my big dose of Matisse in Rome...

'Perfume from Provence' - Rousillon

Rousillon! A small village atop a hill of ochre. The architecture reflects this and is alive with colour. If you want to be able to know just how many different shades, tones and colours ochre can be, you need to go there.


You need to go there anyway! It was my favourite place. It sucked me in, but unfortunately circumstances spat me out. Guess I'll just have to go back...

'Perfume from Provence' - Gordes

Gordes is an amazing hill top village known for it's 'dry' stone. Everything is made from the stone from the hill it stands on and much of it is assembled without mortar.

Opening 'Guide France' - Part 4

Flipping through more pages from 'Guide France', my Paris sketchbook.

I enjoyed using my rebound book. I loved the paper and the books size and weight.
I found I didn't suffer from 'white page fever' and always felt able to draw paint glue write whatever in the familiar environment of my book.

Opening 'Guide France' - Part 3

The Lourve cafe: sacred site for the desperately weary. From my chair, gazing over my 'cafe', I could see the 'Raft of the Medusa' by Gericault.

I thought I 'knew' what the Tour Eiffel looked like. It took a few preliminary sketches to 'find' what it really does look like. (See them here.)

Opening 'Guide France' - Part 2: Musee Picasso

It was an interesting experience drawing Picasso's paintings, there infront of the great man himself (or so it seemed) and amidst a large ever moving crowd.

I sat on benches in the middle of the rooms or stood when there were none. People came up to look at my drawings, sometimes sitting next to me to sneak peaks at my progress. On top of this I had decided my brush texta-style pens would be the quickest and easiest (and I didn't want a confrontation over using watercolours in the gallery). The brush pens make that texta squeak as you draw, and I was drawing fast so the squeaking was prominent.

In order to survive all these external influences and distractions I had to focus on getting the simple 'facts' of the painting down.

I found I hadn't brought my black brush pen and had to use my .8 and scribble to quickly fill the large black areas. I also didn't have all of the colours I needed.

The only thing I had left was to relax into it, free up, scribble and scrawl as best I could. I remembered - almost seemingly on a cellular level - the old lessons I had 'learned' from Picasso from books back home, the lessons on being free and getting it down regardless. I felt the spirit of Picasso there approved in a humorous way, of my scratching out images in texta right there amidst everything. I think he would have liked it, after all he used anything and everything in creating his art, nothing was 'sacred', not until it was done that is.

Opening 'Guide France'

Paris!
L'oree du Marais, No 29 rue Francis Bourgeois... I had plat du jour - Timbale ou Pecheur au gratin, salade.















Cafe du Metro, bvde St Germain













Walking, walking, we 'found' the Pantheon and de Mairie du 5th Arrondissement which had a Goya exhibition. I thought "a nice little Goya exhibition would be nice right now" (being somewhat overwhelmed). It was nice, but not little at all and my overwhelment continued unabated. Because there was no way I could look at all the beautiful etchings and engravings I decided to draw ONE...
Se repulen. ("They finish themselves" 1778 - 1779.)



It had been raining all day, the seats were wet, everything wet. While I sat a did this quick watercolour (a) I was asked repeatedly "can I have my photo taken with you?" (b) secretly(?) videoed and (c) an organ grinder came along, handed out song sheets and he and his 'choir' did three stiring French songs...
and I wasn't there all that long!




Pont Neuf.
So many bridges, so little time...

I'm back! (although some bits of me are more back than others...)

...actually quite a lot of me wishes I was

here... (Rousillon)

I've had a wonderful trip and the jetlag is waning now. I'm back at work but my head is still somewhere in Provence, Tuscany, actually I think it's Paris. I've done some sketching in those books and once I get my scanner set up again and my daughters visit is over, I'll be posting some of them here. Thanks for waiting everyone; not much longer now!

What a fitting 'bon voyage'! Some good friends found this in Hanoi, Vietnam only last week, and brought it back for us as we head off (finally!). Our itinerary goes something like - Paris, Avignon, various places in Provence, Florence, Sienna, various places in Tuscany, Venice and Rome. This will be my last post until November when I hope to have something to show from my sketchbooks. All the best until then!
Quel 'voyage de fève 'convenable ! Quelques bons amis ont trouvé ceci à Hanoï, Vietnam seulement la semaine dernière, et l'ont rapporté pour nous comme nous nous dirigeons au loin (finalement !). Notre itinéraire va quelque chose comme - Paris, Avignon, divers endroits en Provence, Florence, Sienna, divers endroits en Toscane, à Venise et à Rome. Ce sera mon dernier poteau jusqu'à novembre où j'espère avoir quelque chose à montrer de mes sketchbooks. Tout le meilleur jusque-là !
Ché 'viaggio di bon 'adatto! Alcuni buoni amici hanno trovato questo a Hanoi, Vietnam soltanto ultima settimana e lo hanno riportato per noi come dirigiamo fuori (infine!). Il nostro itinerario va qualcosa come - Parigi, Avignon, vari posti in Provenza, Firenze, Sienna, vari posti a in Toscana, Venezia e Roma. Ciò sarà il mio ultimo alberino fino a novembre in cui spero di avere qualcosa da mostrare dai miei sketchbooks. Tutto il la cosa migliore fino ad allora!

Out there

I've been surprised and very pleased with the response to seeing my rebound Paris sketchbook. Tonight I've been notified that it is featured on http://www.whytraveltofrance.com/ (16th Sept). I was pleased to learn this, mainly because I found out about such an interesting website. I will be reading the posts there before I head off to France shortly. I also discovered 'Guide France'is mentioned on http://bibliophilebullpen.blogspot.com/ (13th Sept). I wasn't contacted by Bibliophilebullpen about their post and I must say I felt a little trepidation when I scrolled down and saw what kind of site it is (old book lovers*). I was afraid of a bashing there for my 'treatment' of old books, but was please to find they have the same idea as me about it - it's better to have a use (in my case, a loving use) for an old book than to see it go to the scrapheap.

This is the title page(s) from my rebound Rome sketchbook. The Path to Rome was the right size for my rebinding project, but not as exciting as Rome and It's Environs which had a plethora of fold-out maps (I love fold out anything, especially maps!) and plans of all the historic buidings and more more more. But unfortunately RAIE was verging on too small, but worse - it had a plastic cover that prevented the pages from opening flat and just wasn't suitable for rebinding. Also the 56 year old pages, thin to begin with, were very fragile. The solution was to add pages from both to my rebound sketchbook. Once again I used hot and cold-pressed watercolour papers and stonehenge drawing paper for the 5 signatures (groups of pages). I added a ribbon page marker, an elastic closer and a velum pocket inside the back cover.

*In reading over this post before pressing the 'publish' button I realised I should change that from "old book lovers" to "lovers of old books"! But I thought it was a nice little pun and I'd leave it as is.

Pages from 'Guide France'

These are pages I've just done in my 'Guide France' rebound sketchbook (see previous posts about rebinding this book). In preparation for our week in Paris, I've drawn maps of the area we will be staying in and added details from walks through the area described in 'Paris Walks' by Sonia, Alison & Rebecca Landes.

The writing is miniscule! I normally have a big bold hand, but this time I didn't want to take up valuable sketching room in my book, so I somehow managed to write like this. I don't know if I'll really be able to read it easily again, but the act of drawing the maps and writing the information has cemented the general ideas in my brain (I hope!).

Perfume From Provence

Perfume From Provence 6,7
Originally uploaded by Jan and Roly.

I have rebound a 1937 copy of 'Perfume from Provence' by the Honorable Lady Fortescue, illustrated by EH Shephard ('Winnie-the-Pooh' fame) into a sketchbook to take with me on my trip late Sept. I included some of the original pages when I rebound it with hot and cold pressed Arches and Waterford watercolour papers and Stonehenge paper.

This will be my Provence Sketchbook. Check out my Flickr site for more images of this book including the cover and title pages.

I find I am really enjoying all this rebinding of books. I've made handbound books before and really enjoyed it, but I always found I was confounded when it came to the covers. I often felt the cover wasn't quite right for the book in some way, or I felt compelled to put too much work into the cover which somehow added psycological 'weight' to the book I'd rather not had.

Rebinding has solved all that for me. I choose a book I like and whose title or subject suits and away I go. Somehow it feels even more personal than my painted covers. It creates an feeling of attachment that I love.