In 2019, I spent eight months in Germany on a co-op position at the University of Wurzburg. I was fortunate enough to travel around Europe and explore new languages and cultures in person. Along the journey I tried to create a sketch or drawing for every new place that I visited, here are my favorites.
The Würzburger Cathedral stands proudly at the end of this busy street which leads directly to the “Wine Bridge” crossing the river Main. This was a great place to go shopping or hang out as well as a welcome landmark to see after a long journey into Sanderau or across the river. I was glad to call this city home.
I colored it in with a very limited collection of felt markers that I got from the euro-store. The colors reflect the vibrant feeling of being downtown.
Lisbon, Portugal 
Muji pens on paper
Lisbon was a city that I had never heard of until I got there. They are famous for their beaches and I could see why. However, my favorite time there was when I took an electric scooter all the way down the oceanside. I ran into some of the coolest things that were absolutely unplanned and spontaneous (including one of the coolest aquariums I’ve ever seen).
I sketched this out in pen as a trial. I don’t think it turned out that well but it is a fond memory regardless.
This one doesn’t have a reference photo as I drew it at the scene. Strasbourg is right on the border of Germany and France. It is known for the Cathédrale Notre-Dame and its astronomical clock. It really is a breathtaking piece of architecture. I drew one of the spires with statues in it. The intricate patterns were fun to incorporate.
Salzburg, Austria 
Marker on paper
Salzburg is famous for being featured in the movie musical “The Sound of Music”. Exploring the landmarks from the famous movie scenes was a fun time. Even more fun was having a picnic dinner by the river at the end of a long day hiking. The sky turned a magical color for just a few moments and I was inspired to try to draw it on paper.
London, UK 
Pen and marker on paper
I only got to spend a single afternoon in London, but the sights were great, even at night. The most memorable things were the red circle pictured above and the “tube” announcements to “please mind the gap”. I still have my Oyster card and I’m looking forward to going back as soon as this whole pandemic thing is over.
Koln, Germany 
Pen on paper
This was my final “big trip” and my favorite piece of work. The incredibly wide bridge in Cologne looked great from this angle. It also looked really cool from the top of that cathedral in the background (which was a fun climb, definitely recommend). At this point I felt like my sketching skills have improved quite a bit. The hardest part is always the start. Going from a blank page to any piece of work takes a vision and a single bold stroke.
This has been my 2019 travelling moments in sketches. I was hoping that this would continue into 2020 but unfortunately the world kind of shut down. This was definitely a very fun concept to explore and I hope that I will be able to do something similar to this again soon. Thanks for checking out my work 🙂
joey gaffney 