For my two week spring break I headed to the Iberian Peninsula with two sketch books, paints, my Escoda Prado synthetic sable travel brushes, and binoculars. This is the first time I had sketched in a foreign country (no Texas jokes please). It took a little while to “shakes hands with the place” as Goldsworthy would say. A little while to warm up to Spain.

My travels took me to two of the greatest sporting venues in the world, two of the greatest art museums in the world, the top birding destination in Europe, and an art museum that is an architectural masterpiece. Madrid, Extremadura, and Bilbao.

Over the next series of posts I will share pages of my sketchbooks from the Corrida De Toros at the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, to the 107 species of birds I saw in Extremadura and the chameleon-silver flying fish that is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Enjoy the rich colors, traditions, and cuisine of Spain!

Care for a drink with your sketch?