Book Review: Secrets of the Traveling Sketcher

Kwan Yuen Tam was a painter before he started sketching 2014. He fell in love with the immediacy of sketching and over the years have filled up sketchbooks while traveling in various countries. This 196-page paperback features a collection of his sketches and several step-by-step exercises.

This book is filled with plenty of beautiful sketches and photos. I particularly enjoyed reading the short stories behind each sketch. The stories add context and really conveys the experience of traveling, being present. Kwan also included things like tickets for planes, trains, museums, stamps, brochures and other items bought during the trips. So it's more like keeping a journal in addition to just drawing. It really invokes the wanderlust in me and reminds me of my own sketching trips.

There are sketching techniques scattered throughout the book. The only downside to this book is, the step-by-step exercises lack reference photos to work with. It would be good to have reference photos so that you can see Kwan's process, and sketch in your own style with the photo. It's a minor quibble. I still enjoyed the book very much.

You can get the book at https://www.kytamartstudio.com/order-form34435894