World Tour 18/19

Inspiration from Kiev

In Kiev, winter raged around -3 °C and laid a thick blanket of snow over the city. White and grey, however, look very good on Kiev, because the other colours really seem to shine even brighter.

Despite the freezing cold, constant snowfall and frozen streets, you can meet people trying to sell fruit, vegetables, fish and other things from boxes and cartons. This makes you think.

Inspiration from Tbilisi

In some corners of the city there is the scent of freshly baked bread, ripe fruit, vegetables and spices. In other corners, scents that you would rather not have known get into your nose. The streets are narrow and damaged, pedestrian walkways are rarely found outside the centre, car drivers enrich the noise with constant honking and countless stray dogs and cats roam the streets.

Food stalls are as much a part of Tbilisi's cityscape as the many broken houses. Fish, fruit, vegetables, spices, sweets: Everything is presented on folding tables or in boxes by the side of the street. Tbilisi has its very own charm which is so much different from what you know from Germany.

Inspiration from Yerevan

From Tbilisi I took an ancient train to Yerevan. In direct comparison to Tbilisi, the Armenian capital appears to be the complete opposite: the streets are intact, clean, there are wide sidewalks for pedestrians, traffic lights, zebra crossings and far and wide there is hardly a stray cat or dog to be seen.

Inspiration from Dubai

Everyone knows Dubai from the media and we all have a certain idea of the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, but I was still blown away when I got there. For me, it was as if I had taken a trip into the future: trains travel without train drivers, huge skyscrapers shine as if freshly polished in the blistering heat, and you can walk for hours over artificially created islands.

Inspiration from Colombo

As someone who has hardly seen anything of the world and grew up in a big city bubble, my first impression of Colombo was absolutely chaotic: Broken streets with broken or no sidewalks at all, countless tuk tuks, motorbikes and cars driving around in confusion, people running all over the place and open power cables hanging down at eye level. I was really not sure how to find something to draw in this chaos.

Inspiration from Kuala Lumpur

The sixth destination is a beautiful city full of plants and modern buildings: Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur. I fell in love with the city from the very first second and I was immediately sure that I would have no problems finding inspiration here.

I love plants, which is why Kuala Lumpur is a true paradise for me: they grow along the streets, on balconies, in gardens on roof terraces and even along the walls of houses!

Drawings from Kuala Lumpur

After Burj Khalifa I actually thought that I would not be drawing any more buildings so soon. But Kuala Lumpur changed my attitude, because at least one of the richly planted houses had to be in my sketchbook. But with the Petronas Twin Towers (which really got extremely out of shape in my drawing) I was sure again that buildings are not my strength.

Inspiration from Melaka

Melaka was not originally on the agenda, but since the city is only 150 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage, it was worth throwing all plans overboard and spending the last day in Malaysia there.

During colonial times Melaka was first occupied by the Portuguese, then by the Dutch and finally by the British. Each of the colonial powers left their mark on the city, with the red, monochrome buildings of the Dutch dominating the picture in the old town.

Inspiration from Jakarta

The capital of Indonesia can be a big surprise for anyone who searches the Internet only briefly: The Google image search shows the sparkling skyline and the imposing square of the National Monument. On location, however, Jakarta shows itself from a completely different side.

Drawing from Jakarta

Even though Jakarta was not my golden source of inspiration, at least one new page in my world travel sketchbook had to be filled.

I chose the National Monument and two girls.

Inspiration from Bangkok

After Jakarta I went on to the magnificent capital of Thailand: Bangkok! Here, culturally rich facilities collide with the most modern architecture.

I was particularly impressed by one sight: King Power MahaNakhon. The glass building, which was just completed in 2016 and opened to the public, looks fabulous from afar and is a must for all those who love tall buildings.

Sketches from Bangkok

King Power MahaNakhon made it into my sketchbook first with its spiral-like pixellation. Afterwards I rummaged through my photos in my hotel room and found some more ideas for drawing.

Inspiration from Vientiane

Vientiane is, contrary to other capitals, very quiet, but it was a nice change to the rest of the program of the world trip.

On the second day there was even the possibility to rent a scooter and make a day trip out of Vientiane. Unfortunately it ended with very strong sunburn, but it was still beautiful!

Inspiration from Hanoi

Vietnam's capital is a lively and vibrant city with beautiful corners that look great in both photos and sketchbooks. I would not have thought that of all places I will draw something here of which I will be outrageously proud for a long time to come!

Drawings from Hanoi

At this point in the world tour I have to admit to myself that I no longer hate drawing buildings. I simply had to capture the narrow houses from Hanoi in my sketchbook – and it was a lot of fun!

The third drawing from Hanoi is based on a photo of a woman transporting a lot of flowers on her bicycle. Many people come to Hanoi every day from surrounding villages to sell things on the street and thus finance their families.

Inspiration from Seoul

I was especially looking forward to the 12th stop, because it was going to Seoul! I visited the South Korean capital only once before during my studies in summer 2013 and promised myself to come back one day. Who would have thought that more than 5 years would pass until the next reunion.

Inspiration from Busan

It took about two hours by train from Seoul to the southern end of the South Korean peninsula: Busan! But there was not much time to explore the port city, because the next flight was supposed to take off the following day.

After the check-in at the hotel I dropped off my things and made my way directly to the harbour, because the sun was already moving towards the horizon. It was dipped in wonderful colours! Good thing that I did not spend too much time strolling around in the hotel room.

Drawing from Busan

During the short time in Busan I only managed to create one drawing. The choice fell on something that I could not see with my own eyes, but with the drone: the many houses of the city standing close together.

Inspiration from Osaka

Even if the farewell from South Korea was a little hard for me, I was immediately overwhelmed by the excitement for Osaka!

Besides all the great impressions, it was especially the cleanliness on the streets that impressed me the most. But how is it possible that a woman picks up the accidentally lost piece of paper of a stranger and nobody throws an empty cup on the street? I was told that in Japan there are no cleaners at schools and that the students all clean their school themselves. This is not a measure to save money, but to encourage students to keep their environment clean starting at a young age.

Inspiration from Kyoto

On the 36th day, I left Osaka by train in less than an hour to Kyoto for a great day trip. Kyoto was the seat of the Tennō (Emperor) during the Edo period (1603 to 1868) and is today one of the most important cities in Japanese history and culture. So the train ride could not be over fast enough, because I was really looking forward to explore this wonderful city.

Drawing from Kyoto

From Kyoto I took long lasting, strong sore muscles with me as well as many great impressions. Already in the train back to Osaka my fingers were tingling and a short time later there were three more drawings in my sketchbook.

Inspiration from Honolulu

Aloha! The 16th stop is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean: We went to Honolulu, the capital of beautiful Hawaii. On top of that I went on a time travel, because the flight over the dateline threw me back to the beginning of day 37.

I couldn't have imagined a better place for the middle of the world tour than Honolulu. The world trip is a wonderful adventure for which I am very grateful, but it did me good to put my feet up for a few days and not to walk from one landmark to another.

One day I would like to visit Hawaii again and discover the other islands with my sketchbook! And since it will surely go back into the water, I will buy a surf shirt. Why not just use sunscreen? This video about the terrible effects of sun creams on coral reefs can explain that better than I can!

Drawing from Honolulu

Most days in Honolulu I spent watching fish while snorkeling, lying on the beach and drawing! In the end, these were everyday things that I captured in my sketchbook. And a rainbow really belongs to those things! It seems as if there is always one over O'ahu.

Inspiration from San Francisco

The West Coast of the USA greets: The 17th stop is San Francisco, where I spent Christmas away from home for the first time. Instead of unpacking Christmas presents under the little tree at home, I went in search of inspiration for new drawings.

Drawing from San Francisco

The two Christmas holidays I spent mainly in the hotel. I edited videos, wrote blog posts and decided to sketch the Golden Gate Bridge. In retrospect, it was pretty clear that there was no better motive for San Francisco.

Inspiration from Las Vegas

Las Vegas is really a weird place: The city is located in the middle of the Mojave Desert and is basically a huge playground for adults, which can sometimes be quite expensive. I wasn't very successful in Vegas when it comes to drawing and sketching, but the city taught me to take things in life in a light-hearted way. Instead of worrying about the still empty pages in the sketchbook, I hoped for red in roulette and nibbled hot cheetos in the hotel room while editing videos. Viva Las Vegas!

Drawing from Las Vegas

Out on the street I couldn't find a something to draw, but in the cozy hotel room it was crystal clear: A showgirl had to be in the sketchbook!

Inspiration from Cancún

There was not much time to explore Cancún, as I arrived late on the first day and had to leave very early the day after next for the airport. I used the remaining full day for an excursion to ancient Mayan ruins and met some very fascinating locals.

Inspiration from Havana

Although nothing bad happened to me in Havana, it was the first place where people often tried to rip me off. Immediately upon arrival I found out, for example, that the address of the accommodation given on Booking.com was wrong. A rather taciturn man took me to the right accommodation, but even there many things were not as they were sold.

It seems as if every tourist is a walking moneybag and everybody tries to take out as much as possible. Even children try their luck when careless tourists look in the wrong direction. I have never seen small hands flitting in and out of a strangers handbag so fast. But this only applies to the old town, as further down the street people are busy with themselves, go to work and are not interested in tourists.

Drawings from Havana

I soon noticed that it was impossible to draw outside: I was constantly approached in the old town and only got rid of some people by leaving sightseeings much too fast. So it would only have been possible to draw outside if I had been willing to also engage in sales talks (and watch out for my bag).

Inspiration from New York

New York was cold. Very cold! It didn't snow like in Kiev, but it was still much colder. So it was even more crazy to see some New Yorkers on No Pants Day in the freezing cold without pants or other legwear. Even the Naked Cowboy on Times Square didn't seem to mind the cold, while I was terribly unhappy about having lost my hat in an Uber.