Sketching Scotland’s Spirit of Place
with James Richards
Scotland, UK
16 July - 26 July 2026
£5299
“I never saw myself as Monet in the studio. I wanted to be Anthony Bourdain with a sketchbook.” - from Travel Artist, by James Richards Travel sketching isn’t about art. It’s about using a sketchbook as a tool for discovery. The world is your studio, your sketchbook is your passport. And Scotland offers opportunities for discovery like no other. Here, your sketchbooks can capture individual scenes and stories that make Scotland a legendary place in the imagination of the world. Collectively, your travel sketches can reveal the powerful and almost mystical quality known by writers, poets, artists and architects as spirit of place. Here in Scotland, this quality is steeped in history and legend, and shaped by the most memorable castles, historic towns, fishing villages, landscapes and lochs in the world. You’ll be using pencil, ink, watercolor and mixed media tools to capture your own impressions of this storied place, working in the essentially British tradition of the artist traveler. We’ll do this through fun morning studio sessions that illustrate my own keys to travel sketching, then take those lessons on the road to captivating destinations, where you’ll receive individual attention to help take your sketching to the next level. My goal is to equip you with eye-opening lessons, techniques, shortcuts and inspiration from my own decades of experience that can help you develop your own style, provide sketching breakthroughs and shave years off your learning curve. With new knowledge and confidence, your sketches will take on a loose freshness, and individuality that comes from your own hand. We don’t want a collection of masterpieces. We want you. After 10 days, you'll depart with a newfound sense of freedom and confidence that's the foundation for a lifetime of enjoyment, art-filled travel and continued growth. This is the travel experience of a lifetime. I can’t wait—grab your sketchbook and let’s go!
