The Art of the Travel Sketch

The Art of the Travel Sketch is a compilation of drawings by architect James Warfield. Inspired by American author Kurt Vonnegut’s observation that “peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God,” Warfield has devoted a lifetime of world travel and architectural research to record in sketches, words and photographs the most exotic vernacular environments and the cultures and people who create them. The book is intended as both an educational volume and a highly personal visual memoir. Its focus is not on “how” to draw, but rather on “why” one draws. Selected as exemplars of graphic and conceptual principles, Warfield’s sketches are accompanied by a series of essays that range from instructive – on selecting subjects, on perspective, on drawing from real life – to philosophical – on courting the creative moment, on confidence, on poetry, and on guilty pleasures and personal critiques. The book celebrates the delight and excitement of travel as well. The foreword is written by architects Cathi and Steven House, authors of Mediterranean Villages: an architectural journey and true artists in their own right, who share Warfield’s passion for both the sketch and world architecture.