You can find room to work almost anywhere: a broad windowsill in your hotel room, an airplane tray table, a broad windowsill in your hotel room, an airplane tray table, the car’s glove box (this works in my Jeep, anyway!) or a crowded café. You can even work standing up, balancing your pencil, journal and paints, if you keep it simple and lightweight. The thing is to do it!
I sometimes paint from inside my car or out the hotel window if the weather’s not cooperative. Most hotels and motels have wide windowsills or heating/AC units that can act as your taboret. The view can be spectacular or mundane, but it’s still a great record of your travels.
We were forced to stop at a motel by a truck stop due to a downpour. Although the view wasn’t that stunning, and my colored pencil turned out to be water-soluble, I really like this sketch. It reminds me of exactly how wet it was.
If insects are a problem, wear long pants and long sleeves or pack repellent. Slapping mosquitoes or black flies while sketching is neither nor productive. Ask the locals how they deal with black flies, ticks or other local irritants.
While sketching in the desert, my husband warned me: “If it doesn’t bite, it stings, and if it doesn’t do either of those things, it has stickers or thorns.” I managed to avoid almost all of those dangers, but I’ll admit it was mostly by sketching through the windows of the rental car and hotel room (as shown on the left).