New York Sketchbooks and Travel Journals

Sketchbooks, Sightseeing & Shopping in New York City

The first two visits 1995 & 2009

The first time I visited New York City was in 1995 when I was just a young thing. My parents took me as a celebration for getting my first Lecturing job and flat of my own. I was pretty skint at the time, so their generosity was much appreciated and it was great to have a holiday to somewhere so special.

I was completely in awe of the sheer size of the city, the height of skyscrapers and the diversity of the people, and was extra pleased to be asked out on a date within 10 minutes of leaving the hotel on my own. It felt like a big Glasgow, perhaps due to the similar layout of streets and the grey skies. We were in a cheap hotel, so I fondly remember popping to the deli next to the hotel, in my pyjamas, to pick up breakfast for us all.

My most lasting memory was of the views from the helicopter ride we took. It flew over central park and I was entranced by this rectangle, packed densely with greenery, in stark contrast to the pale stone colours of the tall buildings that flanked its borders. I also adored the grandeur and opulence of the Art Deco buildings contrasting with the vibrancy of the yellow taxis zipping about at top speed. I saw one 50s taxi and nearly knocked a poor lady over trying to get a good photo of it.

The second trip was in 2009, when I went with my husband Trevor, as a big treat for my 40th Birthday. We stayed in the swanky Sheraton Hotel, (although there were still early morning runs out to the local delis for breakfast) and I loved seeing the hustle bustle and bright lights of New York from our 25th floor room.

We spent a lot of time exploring the city seeing as many of the ‘sights’ as we could as well as discovering some more obscure places that were not in the usual guide books, like community gardens and Mamas Food Shack, (which is sadly now closed) thanks to the cool ‘NFT- Not for tourists’ NYC Guide. I also started work on one of my very first New York sketchbooks!

Yellow NYX Taxi outside the Bowery poetry club in New York City
Photograph of Breakfast Pastries in a typical New York Deli
Trevor Wilson Photography taking photographs of the New York Skyline from Central Park

I was really into painting burlesque performers at the time, and I had a fantastic afternoon drawing and drinking at Dr Sketchy’s drawing club in the Slipper Room bar. Poor Trevor came to meet me after the show and found me at the bar chatting to a 7ft tall undercover cop – true story. We were invited to stay for the private cabaret show afterwards, but let’s say that it was more hard-core than we were used to, and we made our escape after the first break!

Sadly, Trevor did not gel with the city as much as I did as he found the extreme urbanisation, with the reality of the grime and poverty so evident on every street corner, quite depressing. So we spent a lot of time exploring Central park, walking all three miles of it one day. I was completely surprised that he liked Coney Island, but that could have had something to do with the sunshine and the cold $5 beers!

My First New York Sketchbook

I had recently developed a holiday sketching habit so I took a little A5 landscape Travel journal with me to record what we did and what we saw, in drawings and in words. (It was from Seawhite of Brighton and you can get their newer version of it here).

There was so much to see that there really was not much time to sit and sketch, so there was more writing done back at the hotel around the quick drawings made on site. I tend to sketch when we are sat in cafes or on the train, which strikes up interesting conversations with strangers. The photo was taken by a random guy on the subway, who loved my book so much, he insisted that he took a photo of me with it.

I only managed to half fill the book, so it seemed fitting to take it on my next trip to The Big Apple.

Fast forward to 2023

Even though this was going to be my third trip to New York City, this one was going to be extra special. It was just with my mum, who has been to New York lots of times, but usually with her sister. My husband joked that it would be fun for her to go with me for a change so we could spent some quality time together, and next thing I know, I have agreed to go along and everything is booked for August 2023! We were very excited about it and had big plans of what we were going to do and see, when disaster struck!

In February my mum had a fall, a simple slip off a few stairs. She hit her head and was sick with concussion, but seemed to be on the mend. But there was trouble brewing in that brain of hers, and she was rushed to hospital a week later to have life saving surgery. The shock of seeing my mum who is normally a whirlwind of activity, sat in the hospital chair, unable to speak or use her hands properly, was very sobering. We think we are strong, fit and invincible, but a simple accident can change everything in the blink of an eye!  We didn’t actually know if mum would be allowed to travel until almost until the month before the trip was planned, but she worked really hard at her recovery and as you can guess from the photo at the bottom of this post, she made it! 

On our first day, we went in search of the remaining Chelsea Flea Market, where we rummaged through the junk and came home with a handful of $1 necklaces. We then wandered towards the uber-trendy Chelsea Market (not to be confused with flea as they are quite a distance apart) full of places to eat and shop front fitting. On the way between the markets we ‘fell into’ Dick Blicks Art shop where we spent over an hour ogling paint and pencils. Mum got herself a cute wee sketchbook, and I got a giant tube of lemon yellow acrylic (and a few more bits and pieces, of course).

On Sunday we headed to Brooklyn to a place that had been recommended by a friend for Sunday Brunch with live music. At SUPERFINE, we feasted on a delicious lunch of enchiladas made with organic ingredients and some non-alcoholic beer, all washed down with a helping of Blue grass music from the band. There was pop art on display, people dancing and real homestyle vibe that I loved. I can’t recommend it enough, especially as I was able to make a reservation by email from Scotland!

We travelled there directly on the subway, not by walking over the Brooklyn Bridge like before, so I was really struck by how different DUMBO looked. Before there was not much going on, but a sign welcoming you to Brooklyn, and it was not really recommended to be hanging about down there. Now, it is a beautiful place for tourists, with a clean Riverside walk under the two Bridges, a secluded park, lots of posh restaurants and shops, and of course, a hip & trendy flea market (my favourite). I was tempted by quite a few bizarre items, but reminding myself of how full my home studio is, kept my purse in my pocket!

It was a glorious day, so armed with our sketchbooks, we found a seat in the sun and rested our feet while we drew the River with the majestic Manhattan Bridge high above us. 

View of the Manhattan Bridge from Dumbo in Brooklyn New York City 2009
Sketch of the Manhattan Bridge over the Hudson River in New York City in a travel journal by Fiona Wilson Art
Sketching the Manhattan Bridge over the Hudson River in New York City

Sketching in Central Park

Because mum tended to get tired in the afternoon, we would head back to the hotel for some lunch and a rest. If my feet were up to it, I liked to go out and explore bits of the city, my mum was not so fussed about visiting, on my own.

One evening it was getting late but the time I left the hotel but the sun was still shining and it was warm.  I wanted to make the most of any good weather I could get but I didn’t want to venture too far from the Hilton Midtown Hotel, so I meandered the few blocks up to Central Park. It was a beautiful, balmy evening and I found a great spot with tables where I could spread out my hand-made concertina sketchbook and enjoy the view through drawing.

Of course, sketching outside always attracts attention and I piqued the curiosity of a group of design students who were visiting from Oregon. We chatted about life there and how it was similar to Scotland, what we liked about New York City and about making art for a living. If I hadn’t been sketching there is no way I’d of struck up a conversation with such a lovely bunch of strangers. This is the true magic of sketching out and about!

Concertina sketchbook watercolour painting sketch of central park and the New York skyline by artist Fiona Wilson
Concertina sketchbook watercolour painting sketch of central park and the New York skyline by artist Fiona Wilson

Chelsea, The High Line & Hudson Yards

Mum and I were busy most days sightseeing and shopping and I was entranced with taking photographs of everything (as I like to do), so getting myself to sit still was a challenge. So on another late afternoon exploration, I headed to the High-Line walkway designed by famous landscape artist Piet Oudolf which follows the path of a disused railway which runs between Hudson yard and The Whitney Museum of American Art, in Chelsea. My husband had watched a film about it and wanted me to take some photos of the planting for him and as I love gardens, I was more than happy to do the pilgrimage.

It is always tempting to keep dashing onto the next thing to do or see, but the afternoon I spent just walking the Gardens of the High-Line, looking at the plants, the crazy new buildings and the views below, was fascinating and very restorative. I wanted to sit for a while and appreciate the views more with a sketch, but although there were plenty of concrete benches, it was hard to draw there because of the constant stream of people filing past and tripping over my feet. I did manage a super-quick drawing, but I also wrote in my book later about what I felt about the whole place, which I will expand on in another blog post.

Towards the end of the High-Line route was another new to me sight I wanted to catch, Little Island. This is a bizarre garden built on weird blobby stilts, on the site of an old pier. I wanted to return to Chelsea to catch the galleries I had missed, so when they all closed at 6pm, I headed over to the Island. I wasn’t sure what to expect but once you are on the island, it strikes you how it feels like you actually in quite a large park. There were snaking paths, plenty of places to sit, and a large concert area where a band was playing for free. It felt like I had stumbled upon a a tiny, gentle music festival, where people meandered about, enjoying exploring the paths, while the latin music softly wafted over the mounds of swaying grasses. I was there for just over an hour, but it was so magical and perfect that it was hard to drag myself away, and make a mad sprint back to the subway to make it back to Midtown in time for dinner!

Completing the New York Sketchbook Journal

Because my city trips are often short in time, I tend to try and cram so much in, so the time spent sketching is limited. I love sketching on-site, but sometimes I don’t quite get enough down, or get time to glue all the collected items into the pages while I am there. So I did a little more work on the book at home. Mostly this was organising and collaging all the paper ephemera I had picked up and making sure that all the notes were complete. I also added a few photos to this book, to illustrate the stories even further.

Because I combine all the elements of drawing and painting with words, collected items, photographs and notes, I don’t know quite how to describe these books. A travel journal or travelogue is more about the writing, a travel sketchbook is more about the drawings and a ‘smashbook’ is like a scrapbook style arrangement of words, photos and found materials, but I can’t quite find a name for what I do which is a bit of everything combined into one book. So if you can concoct a good, memorable name for my type of travel books, I’d love to hear your suggestions 🙂

If you’d like to see the complete New York travel Journal, I have embedded a video of it below, or you can watch it on my youtube channel here.
If you enjoy, please send me thumbs up and subscribe as I plan to add more videos soon!

Finally, always remember what’s important

My week in New York was so good for me in so many ways. Now only did we indulge in plenty of Sketchbooks, Sightseeing & shopping in New York City, I brought back loads of new ideas and material for new arts (plus the sunshine boosted my vitamin D for the impending Scottish winter). I didn’t manage to do everything on my long wish list, as neither of us could walk as far as we could in 1995, but I did enjoy the slower pace of our days with our very lazy mornings having a relaxed breakfast in the room, going out for a meal together at night and having a laugh about what we saw or discussing our fabulous bargains we had purchased, or even just resting in the room with a good book, a beer and a cheap take-out meal of Chicken and Rice!

With all these fabulous stories and pictures to share, it is easy to forget that this trip almost didn’t happen. In the end, my mum and I had a fabulous time, shopping, eating too much food, seeing new sights and basking in the sunshine. I felt very spoilt to be treated to such a trip and to have my mum well enough to enjoy it with me. I adore and will treasure this photo that someone kindly took for us on the 86th floor viewing balcony of The Empire State Building.

At the end if the day, it’s easy to get caught up collecting photographs and ticking sights off the bucket list. But a trip is also about the people you are with and the people you meet while you are there. It’s the things that happen between what you planned to do and the stories you hear that are often the most interesting. But of course, if like me, you have a terrible memory, then a sketchbook journal that is crammed with stories and pictures from your journey helps keep all those memories alive!

SAMARIVANS – a fundraising painting for the SamaritansSamarivan painting of a vw camper van in a forest for The Samaritans charity art auctionBlue WoodlandAbstract Painting Accepted into SSA 125th Annual Exhibition