Completing My First Watercolor Sketchbook: Lessons from Türkiye and Greece

Sophia shares reflections on beginning a sketchbook, lessons learned, and a glimpse into the pages she filled on a trip this fall.

By Sophia Trinh

A watercolor painting depicting a serene coastal scene with a white church featuring a dome. The church is perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking calm waters, surrounded by gentle waves and a soft blue sky. Faint outlines of distant islands are visible on the horizon.

I have a confession to make. I’ve never completed a sketchbook from start to finish. I’ve always preferred loose sheets, torn paper, and scraps from old scratchpads. While I have started sketchbooks before, the idea of committing to the first page, let alone the last, always felt intimidating. But in 2026, I’d like to change that.

I was recently gifted a Hahnemühle 100% Cotton Watercolor Book in the square format, and I brought it on a trip to Türkiye and Greece. Below are my reflections on beginning a sketchbook, the lessons I learned, and a glimpse into the pages I created along the way.

Watercolor palette with various paints, a sketchbook open to a painted map of Turkey in soft orange hues, and art supplies including brushes and pens in a maroon case. Bright, well-lit workspace setting. — Sophia’s Burgundy A5 Art Toolkit, Black Folio Palette, and favorite sketching tools.

Folio Palette Paint List

Paintmakers: (DS) = Daniel Smith, (WN) = Winsor & Newton, (H) = Holbein, (LS) = Letter Sparrow.

Row 1: Pyrrol Scarlet (DS), Winsor Orange Red (WN), Indian Red (WN), Cobalt Violet (WN), French Ultramarine (DS), Manganese Blue Hue (WN).*
Row 2: Windsor Orange (WN), , Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet (DS), Permanent Magenta (WN).
Row 3: Pyrrol Orange (DS), Cadium Free Orange (WN), Hansa Yellow Light (DS), Ultramarine (WN), Lavender (H).
Row 4: Coral Reef (DS), Cascade Green (DS), Compose Green (H), Leaf Green (H), Olive Green (WN).
Row 5: Titan Buff (LS)*, Shell Pink (H), Neutral Tint (WN), Payne’s Gray (WN), Cobalt Teal Blue (DS).
Row 6: Moonglow (DS).

*Starred paints were added specially for this trip!

A Sketchbook Begins in an Airport Terminal

While waiting to board my flight to Istanbul, I opened my new sketchbook and began with something simple: maps. I sketched the shapes of Türkiye and Greece to better understand where I was traveling. Sketching maps has always helped me imprint their geographies in my mind (Morocco, Vietnam).

With my Art Toolkit, flight delays feel less like inconveniences and more like bonus studio time.

As I painted, I learned little geographical details, like how Istanbul spans two continents, Europe and Asia, and how Greece has over 600 islands, with around half of them inhabited. These tiny facts made the journey feel richer, and the act of sketching them made them memorable.

Inspiration at 35,000 Feet

On the long flight over, I found creative inspiration in one of my favorite artists, Georgia O’Keeffe, and her book To See Takes Time, which chronicles her early charcoal, pastel, and watercolor studies. I was especially drawn to her belief in repetition—that drawing the same object again and again deepens understanding—which led O’Keeffe to her iconic oil paintings.

A hand holds an open book featuring illustrations, including a wave-like design and a watercolor piece. A small glass of tea sits on a saucer in the background, against a dark surface.

Blue abstract background with white text that reads "Georgia O'Keeffe - To see takes time."

Before photography was widely accessible, artists relied heavily on their sketchbooks as a visual reference. This helped me re-frame the purpose of my sketchbook not as something precious or perfect, but as a living resource, a place to practice and return to for future ideas.

Two Days in Istanbul

In Istanbul, my husband and I woke up early to visit the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Basilica Cistern.

The exterior of a large, historical dome structure with a golden finial, featuring brick and stone walls, under a clear blue sky.

Watercolor illustration of Hagia Sophia, showcasing its iconic dome and arched windows, surrounded by green foliage. The date "9.13.25" is noted at the top.

I was moved by the architecture, the warm ombré colors of the Hagia Sophia’s walls, and the beautiful coexistence of Islamic and Christian histories.

Crete: Sketching by Hidden Beaches

A hand holds an open sketchbook with watercolor illustrations of a figure standing in the ocean and a beach scene, with a picturesque seaside backdrop of clear blue water and distant hills. People can be seen enjoying the beach. — Watercolor of swimmers in clear turquoise water.

A serene watercolor illustration of a person swimming in a calming, blue-toned water surrounded by soft gray and gold accents. A partial sun is visible in the bottom right corner. — Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

On the 15th, we took a connecting flight through Athens to Crete, the birthplace of Zeus. Crete quickly became one of my favorite places to paint. We spent most of our time on hidden beaches, which gave me uninterrupted space to sketch by the water.

Waves crash against rocky cliffs under a clear blue sky, with deep blue ocean extending to the horizon. — The waterfront in Achlada.

A hand holds an open sketchbook displaying a watercolor painting of cacti with vibrant green pads and yellow flowers, set against a blue ocean and greenery in the background. — Painting prickly pear cacti in Achlada.

I found myself drawn to painting people both up close and from afar. I used tiny dots of color to symbolize swimmers from a distance—just enough detail to hint at figures without fully defining them.

Santorini: Painting in the Wind

A woman sitting on a white stone ledge by the sea, smiling and holding a sketchbook. She wears a green swimsuit and a light blue baseball cap. The background features a scenic view of the ocean and distant hills. — Santorini map.

A hand holding an open sketchbook with a watercolor painting of an abstract shape in shades of blue and green. The page also displays swatches of various colors on the left. In the background, a serene ocean view and a distant landmass are visible. — Santorini is an island shaped like the letter C.

On the 17th, we took the ferry to Santorini. I sketched on the ride over as the island slowly came into view. As you can see in my map, the island is shaped like a sweeping “C,” the result of ancient volcanic activity.

I loved capturing the contrast of white homes and blue domes stacked along the cliffs. One of my favorite sketches was of Skaros Rock. The hardest part of painting in Santorini wasn’t finding inspiration—it was the wind, which turned each page into a small adventure.

An open sketchbook showing a pencil drawing on the top, a hand holding a watercolor palette with various colors on the bottom right, and a scenic view of a rocky formation by the ocean in the background.

A person holds an open sketchbook with watercolor paintings while overlooking a rocky landscape and a prominent rock formation. The sky is clear and blue, indicating a bright, sunny day.

Reflections

While I didn’t finish the entire sketchbook, I loved creating quick sketches that I could return to later, like the church sketch I made during our hike from Fira to Oia, which I added color to at the airport on our way back home (shown below).

A hand holds an open sketchbook displaying a pencil drawing of a church atop a hill, with a white dome structure in the background against a bright blue sky and ocean.

A watercolor sketch of a coastal scene featuring a white building with a dome overlooking the ocean. The background includes soft blues and greens with hints of birds in the sky. Art supplies scattered nearby, including brushes and a watercolor palette.

As I continue to navigate creating a sketchbook practice into 2026, I carry with me Georgia O’Keeffe’s lesson that sketchbooks are valuable reference points: a place to gather inspiration that can grow into larger studio pieces.

A person stands on rocky terrain overlooking a blue sea and distant white buildings. They are holding a notebook and wearing a cap, sunglasses, a light jacket, and shorts. The sky is clear and bright.

The interplay of cool blues against earthy grays and purples in Santorini sparked ideas I’m excited to keep exploring, and inspire me to blend warm and cool tones in new ways.

A serene watercolor landscape featuring soft pastel colors. The scene depicts a hazy shoreline with gentle waves lapping at a small rocky outcrop, surrounded by mist. The sky transitions from warm orange to light pink towards the horizon, while green hills flank the background. — Paintings from the coastal town of Bandon, Oregon.

A serene watercolor landscape featuring a calm shoreline with gentle waves lapping at the beach. Soft gray and blue hues dominate the sky, while hints of green trees dot the distant shoreline. Light brush strokes create a tranquil atmosphere, with a few birds flying in the background. — I played with blending more warm and cool tones together.

While I may not love every sketch or every page, each one is part of the creative journey and a reminder that growth lives in the imperfect moments.

Sophia Trinh
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