PROJECT
Passport Collection
We can't all take a trip every time we have a travel bug, but we can anchor ourselves with reminders of places that make our hearts feel light. Inspired by travels to some of my favorite places, this collection is for adventurers to experience the world, with or without a passport.
BEHIND THE COLLECTION
My happy place is a morning traveling abroad. Waking up in a place unexplored, the day untouched, knowing that I’m on the brink of adventure with people I love. Being out of my normal context helps me appreciate the wonder back in everyday life. These moments can carry us through the valleys. But what about the in-between? Most of us can’t hop to our mountaintops every time we crave refreshment.
So, we anchor ourselves with reminders - visual adventures- that transport us, if even for a second, to where we feel alive. Art breathes life into our souls- like we’re in the places we feel whole, cultivating that feeling wherever we find ourselves.
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I hope you find moments of joy & refreshment exploring this travel collection!
“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.”
– Anthony Bourdain
Color Story
Each city vignette in the Passport Collection has it's own color story to reflect they're unique personalities. However, a mix of sage, hibiscus, pine, clay, and amarillo are common threads throughout most of the pieces.
ideating and sketching
Gathering Travel Inspiration
My first step in creating the collection was answering the question: is there space in the world for more travel illustrations?
But, these illustrations are pieces of my story. And if they're a part of yours too (or you want them to be!), I figured that was enough reason to put a pen to paper.
After choosing cities that were special to me, I gathered photo inspiration and color stories. Next, I worked on rough thumbnail sketches to block out the colors and architecture of each city.
Next up was sketching final outlines, then adding the personality with color.
Illustration Process & Sketches
Illustrating Marrakesh
We'd waited a couple of months after we got married to go to the "Red City" on our honeymoon due to COVID. Almost everything that could go wrong on the trip did, but it became one of our favorite places with many memories of chaos and beauty. Morocco is a place unlike any other!
The MArrakesh design included
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Backdrop of the High Atlas mountains
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Sun-drenched red clay homes and date palms
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Weaving streets and quintessentially Moroccan doorways
Coming soon: Marrakesh field journal
Illustrating Bergen
It wasn't a season of excess when my husband and I visited Norway. But we pooled travel points and flew from Charlotte to Oslo for a long weekend. The highlight of our trip was the train journey through the fjords to Bergen- a magical city with cobblestone and wooden houses on the harbor.
the bergen design included:
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The city nestled between Mount Fløyen and the coast
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Iconic Bryggen Wharf's colorful wooden houses lining the harbor
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Supple greens, tranquil blues, and pops of red-orange
Final Illustrated Travel Prints
Kelly Wallace Creative
For your next adventure
© 2024 Kelly Wallace Creative