Travel Sketching - Drawing Insights from Istanbul

Part memoir, part instructional and part demonstrative, this book describes the author's personal experiences sketching in and around the city of Istanbul, Turkey, as a case study of how to observe and appreciate the places we visit. Featuring scores of beautiful ink-and-watercolor illustrations, along with eloquently addressing big-picture "whys" to highly detailed "hows," this book draws the reader into the joys, challenges and satisfaction of celebrating places and people through the lens of travel sketching. What people are saying about Travel Sketching - Drawing Insights from Istanbul:

"Ivan Chow has a gift for celebrating architecture and the importance of drawing by hand through the most captivating original work. Through this case study of sketches from Istanbul, Chow demonstrates his virtuosity as a sketch artist in a collection of imagery unlike anything I can remember seeing - anywhere before. This small book is a beautiful work of art, cheerfully compelling and it belongs in everyone's home."

(JAMES P. CRAMER, founder, DesignIntelligence and Design Futures Council, Atlanta, Georgia)

"Sketches are not mere visual replicas of what has been observed. They fuse and convey the entire lived sensory experience, our being in the "flesh of the world", to quote Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Ivan Chow s sketches mediate a sense of life, especially through the slight intentional displacement of line and color. We sense the temperature, hear the sounds, and smell the odours of Istanbul in these sketches."

(JUHANI PALLASMAA, Architect SAFA, HonFAIA, IntFRIBA, Helsinky, Finland)

"The wait is over! Get your hands on this genre-bending book -- part travelogue, part how-to, and a wholly immersive experience for aspiring and professional traveler sketchers alike. Whether you're looking to learn fundamental concepts of composition, or to get lost in the streets of Istanbul, this is the book for you. There is nothing like it on the shelves; it is an altogether unique contribution to the canon of sketching how-to's. The author draws you in, brings you along, and leaves readers with the best gift of all - a deep belief in your own ability to create your own magic using simply your sketching tools, a keen eye and an open mind. He reminds us that the most important stories are the ones we live and tell, and that travel sketching is a wonderfully imaginative means to capture the world's beauty and our experience of it."

(ANGIE PLITCH, Strategic Planning Director, Nike, Portland, Oregon)

"A passionate educator and artist, Ivan Chow explores the rewarding pleasures of travel sketching through personal experiences and insightful tips that will benefit artists of any skill level. By engaging in the creative and intellectual exercise of sketching, he encourages us to adjust our reliance on selfie-sticks and smart phones by slowing down and fully engaging with the nuance and beauty of the places we visit."

(JUSTIN GUNTHER, director, Fallingwater, Mill Run, Pennsylvania)

Mill Run, Pennsylvania

"Ivan's keen insights and clever tips on hand sketching are brilliantly displayed and well-articulated in this delightful memoir of this travels to Istanbul. Creatively presented, even the novice will learn precise strategies for capturing the essence of a place in just a quick sketch. One will find practical advice on drawing tools as well as lessons learned about how best to capture a moment in time on your journey. There is truly no more personal way of expressing one's impression of a place than with travel sketching and as you will discover in these pages, there is no one more talented than Ivan Chow."

(TIMOTHY MANSFIELD, principal, Cambridge Seven)