Starting Day 2 of Sketch Tour Portugal on Praia de Santa Cruz. Rumor has it that the guy who built this tower by the beach wanted to admire all the beautiful people out on the sand from up high.
I loved this sea arch at the far end of the stretch of sand.
And the fishermen just stuck their poles into the sand and stood around chatting for a long while. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
That afternoon we moved to the mellower surf of Baleal, crowded with schools of beginning surfers to one side. I watched the surfers and the surfer-watchers on the beach.
The waves on the other side of the beach were bigger and more advanced surfers hung out there, all with their longboards. ( Yes, I learnt the difference between long and short boards and different kinds of waves, all courtesy of João Catarino. Almost every surfer will pause like this one in the foreground and really look out at sea before heading in.
There were a lot of what looked like ‘classic white’ surfboards and some really brightly colored ones. I wonder whether surfers feel strongly about being a classic or bright colored kinda surfer?
That was Day 2 of Sketch Tour Portugal, Surf Edition.
Day 1 is here.
More coming up soon, ofcourse.
Sketch Away: Travels with my sketchbook 
hi Suhita. very nice sketches. What type of paper and techniques you did you use? many thanks! Greta Margot
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Greta, I’m using a wonderful handmade line of sketchbooks called Laloran. They are available here: http://laloranstore.bigcartel.com/
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These are wonderful! I ‘feel’ the beach.
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thank you, the beaches of Portugal were gorgeous-from vast sandy stretches to some sheer-cliffed drops to a small gem of a beach hidden in a cove…
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Wonderful sketches! Do you usually sketch first and then add watercolor? Or do you paint first and then add ink?
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Thanks Cindy, I work both ways. The first 2 sketches are paint-first. The next few are line-first. Both ways produce slightly different results and I like to look at what I’m going to sketch and then respond in whichever way I feel works best.
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These are lovely! Did you get to Praia do Guincho?
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No we didn’t … 6 days to travel and sketch surf beaches of Portugal means you pick and choose- we drove further north to a surfing world championship event so we had to give that one a miss… but there’s always next time!
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Subita, your water painting is so wonderful–the waves, the whites and blues, the quiet movement–I pause like the surfers and contemplate. Thanks!
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Suhita! Sorry!
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Thanks Darrelle, Portugal is magical. I’m not a surfer, but seeing the ocean through the lens of surfers really brought something new to me.
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I love the freshness of your work. How large is the sketchbook with the fishermen? Looks like watercolor paper. Where do you find a sketch book with paper that will stand up to watercolor without buckling? And, are the surfer sketches done with a brush and ink?
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Cynthia, this is the smallest book I’ve sued in a long time. It’s 5.5 inches wide and 8 inches tall. The book is a Laloran, yes,true watercolor paper, 220gr paper ( although most of their books are 180gr). I’ll post about the books soon, here is the url to the store: https://book-sketch.blogspot.com/
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I’m enjoying coming along on your portugal trip! I know how fast those surfers are moving and what a challenge it is to capture so many of them and indicate the type of waves with such efficiency! I hope to consult with you for travel ideas in Portugal prior to the Symposium.
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of course we should talk, Susan.With Portugal you just can’t go wrong anywhere you go. My second trip, this one, and I am rearing to go again.
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Tremendous series! It’s so enjoyable to watch you taking reportage to this level. You’ve crossed a threshold where you can draw anything!
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wow, Marc, thank you! Coming from you that means so much, I always think “it doesn’t matter what you throw at Marc, he finds a way to capture it”
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