December 2022, you can go anywhere in the world to paint. Where?
July 26, 2022 3:40 PM Subscribe
Let's say you have a unique opportunity to go anywhere in the entire world on Dec 1 for three weeks. Your travel budget is not extravagant, but it's not minimal either. Oh, yes and you like to sketch and paint, so you'd like to be near a place where the natural environs are beautiful but there are also urban sketching opportunities. Where to?
Just me, but I’d go to Switzerland. The weather won’t be ideal in December, so you’ll lose some of the outdoor sketching opportunities you’d have in summer, but there’s also a lot happening in winter so it’s not a total loss. You have cool cities - tons of sketching potential just in Bern alone, let alone Luzern, Geneva, or Zurich (whose boring reputation doesn’t matter - it’s still pretty). It’s easy to get between them, or into the countryside, by train, which would allow you to sketch while traveling.
posted by kevinbelt at 4:11 PM on July 26, 2022
posted by kevinbelt at 4:11 PM on July 26, 2022
Maybe New Zealand, since it will be summer and ideal for spending time outside.
posted by pinochiette at 4:23 PM on July 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by pinochiette at 4:23 PM on July 26, 2022 [7 favorites]
San Juan PR, or Mexico City. Lots of different places to draw and paint, and also you could take in so many galleries and museums and bookstores.
posted by BibiRose at 4:29 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BibiRose at 4:29 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Reykjavik
posted by cyndigo at 5:20 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by cyndigo at 5:20 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Kobe, Japan, providing they let in solo tourists by then. The town itself is very interesting with all kinds of architecture, there are going to be winter illuminations on, and you're in train distance of the entire Kansai region, with amazing mountains and rivers and civilization depending on what you're in the mood for. Definitely a region you won't get bored in for three weeks.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 5:24 PM on July 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by I claim sanctuary at 5:24 PM on July 26, 2022 [3 favorites]
Based on my own personal experience: Paris or Edinburgh.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:27 PM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:27 PM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
I watch a plein air painter on YouTube named Sarah Burns who uses a drone to record her gouache and watercolor sketchbook adventures in Scotland. What a stunning place that is. Her "urban" sketches are generally of boats, not buildings, though.
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 6:08 PM on July 26, 2022
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 6:08 PM on July 26, 2022
Bermuda!
posted by jgirl at 6:34 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jgirl at 6:34 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Favorite places I've been in Decembers: Vanuatu, southern Spain, Santa Monica. I'm not a painter, but my photos from Spain are here (city and beach) and here (orange groves).
posted by dobbs at 7:36 PM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by dobbs at 7:36 PM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, The Cotswolds, Dowth, Highway One, California road trip from Baja California up to Trinidad, San Marcos Pass, Grand Canyon, Butrint, Bermuda, Barcelona, not all in one trip, mind you. All of them deserve their own trip.
posted by effluvia at 7:56 PM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 7:56 PM on July 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bear in mind that in December the sun is above the horizon for 4 hours in Reykjavik and 7 hours in Scotland. I'm not a painting expert, but I believe daylight is traditional for landscape painting.
posted by caek at 8:53 PM on July 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by caek at 8:53 PM on July 26, 2022 [5 favorites]
Cape Town!
Culturally very diverse, city and suburbs set right in between the mountain and the sea.
There are a wide range of places very close to one another, some beautiful, some harsh.
For example Kalk Bay Harbour full of small working fishing boats, seals, and people, and Cape Point nature reserve with spectacular rocky coastline and wide open, windy Fynbos. Or on a darker note, the informal settlements, vast stretches of shacks made out of corrugated iron sheeting and advertising billboards, cobwebbed with electric cables.
It really is a fascinating place.
posted by Zumbador at 8:55 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Culturally very diverse, city and suburbs set right in between the mountain and the sea.
There are a wide range of places very close to one another, some beautiful, some harsh.
For example Kalk Bay Harbour full of small working fishing boats, seals, and people, and Cape Point nature reserve with spectacular rocky coastline and wide open, windy Fynbos. Or on a darker note, the informal settlements, vast stretches of shacks made out of corrugated iron sheeting and advertising billboards, cobwebbed with electric cables.
It really is a fascinating place.
posted by Zumbador at 8:55 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Definitely southern hemisphere. Northern hemisphere is fine for Christmas markets and indoors, but southern hemisphere for lengthening days and outdoors.
Australia starts holiday mode once we get past Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday in November) and by December everyone is outdoors.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:27 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Australia starts holiday mode once we get past Melbourne Cup Day (first Tuesday in November) and by December everyone is outdoors.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 10:27 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oaxaca -- maybe with a few days trip to the coast, like Puerto Escondido. But Oaxaca fills all your needs.
posted by mumimor at 10:37 PM on July 26, 2022
posted by mumimor at 10:37 PM on July 26, 2022
For the second time in as many weeks, I'm going to recommend a trip to Mount Takao, on the edge of Tokyo. Early December should be in time to catch the breathtakingly lovely autumn leaves and possibly also the associated festival.
Obviously, that puts you in Japan, where the weather's likely to be autumnal rather than wintry (unless you go into the Japanese Alps or as far north as Hokkaido), there are interesting things to see and do, and, well, it's Japan and it's amazing.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 1:20 AM on July 27, 2022
Obviously, that puts you in Japan, where the weather's likely to be autumnal rather than wintry (unless you go into the Japanese Alps or as far north as Hokkaido), there are interesting things to see and do, and, well, it's Japan and it's amazing.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 1:20 AM on July 27, 2022
New Zealand. The cities have neat architectural touches and the landscape is magical. And in Auckland at least the weather will average 72F.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:55 PM on July 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:55 PM on July 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Chilean Lake District and its coastal area, especially Valdivia, Puerto Varas and the island of Chiloe. It's a fairly large territory, but the bus services are frequent and comfortable. I was there in early December and the temperatures were just right (for me, as a Londoner). That's also before the main local summer holiday season starts, so it's pretty quiet.
posted by kelper at 2:45 AM on July 28, 2022
posted by kelper at 2:45 AM on July 28, 2022
Tasmania, specifically Hobart. Dramatic southern hemisphere forest wilderness in your backyard combined some of Australia's oldest streets, buildings and homes, a harbour and the finish line for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in late December, and it is the home of MONA.
posted by Thella at 2:25 AM on July 29, 2022
posted by Thella at 2:25 AM on July 29, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Juniper Toast at 3:53 PM on July 26, 2022 [1 favorite]