Drawing Travel Postcards

Having a wonderful and artful time in Wherever-land

When I travel I make pen and ink and watercolor postcards. I wrote about this previously in my post about Utah and the rock formations and ancient petroglyphs I drew. This artistic practice has become my personal form of processing the world around me—a true shorthand for encapsulating unforgettable moments.

While many opt for snapshots and selfies, I find that my artistic approach allows me to embed the memory of a place or an experience more deeply. It’s not just about preserving these extraordinary encounters; it’s about sharing them too. I'll put a stamp on the back or the front and mail them to friends and family. Some cards don’t make it to their destination. Maybe they’re in the hands of an appreciative postal worker somewhere. Here are a few that I still have or managed to photograph before they got posted.

top: Glacial Lagoon at Jökulsárlón, Iceland bottom: Stone obelisks at the ferry landing at Landeyjahöfn, Iceland

Piles of postcards with Utah petroglyphs and pictographs

Reflections in a pail of water, Vancouver Island, Canada

Mt. Norris sits above Pebble Creek in the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park.⁠

left: St. Nicholas Church in Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Right: Ornate door, portico and balcony in Montovun, Croatia

Dawn breaks behind the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute on the Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Sunrise over the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.

left: The Floralis Genérica in Buenos Aires is a reflective, 18-ton steel and aluminum sculpture, with six petals that at one time would open with the sun and close with the arrival of twilight. Right: Kids swimming in the Adriatic Sea in Rovinj, Croatia

The Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the former prison to the Doge's Palace.

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• See more postcards at RussellReportage.com

• Making a watercolor on a postcard of a waterfall at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia in this video.

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