Today I want to write about my sketch vacation in Rome. It was special because I visited Rome during winter holidays, Christmas and New Year. The city was incredibly amazing and well decorated. It was also special because we celebrated together with family for the first time since 2020. Despite I call it a sketch vacation, I spent a lot of time and had fun with my family. I want to share with you my experience during this winter Rome vacation.
Weather
I stayed in Rome for 2 weeks from 25th December till 7th January. The weather was great! Or maybe we were lucky. There wasn’t heavy rain. Most of the days were partly cloudy, but some of them were sunny. Temperature about 15C (59F) a day and about 7C (44F) at night. I didn’t use gloves or a hat, but had them on my bag just in case. So, it was very comfy to sketch during the day, hands didn’t freeze and you won’t get cold if you stop for 10-15 minutes. If you hesitate which clothes to bring with you, I suggest you to take jeans, sweaters, a light jacket and comfy shoes or sneakers.
Art Materials
This time I brought Tombow markers and Magic pencils by Koh-i-noor. I had 10 markers and 4 pencils. Also I brought with me a small bag for all this stuff, that was with me most of the time. And of course I took a small A6 format sketchbook with me. The big disadvantage of the bag was that it was too small to put the sketchbook inside. I’m not sure I will use it for my next trip. Of course I didn’t use all my markers and pencils, but I wanted to give myself a choice to experiment if I would like.
Museums
Rome is like an open air museum and you can discover it endlessly. On this trip I visited the Vatican Museums, Borghese Gallery and Sant Angelo Castle. Usually I try to sketch in museums, especially sculptures and statues. Unfortunately, due to the holidays there were a lot of tourists in the museums, so the mission to sketch inside, failed. I don’t really think it’s realistic to sketch in Vatican Museums, only if you have some private tour before the opening. Anyway, I took some pictures and sketched them at home.
Tip: Book all the tickets to the Museums ahead due to high demand. Take an audio guide or guided tour.
- Plan your visit to Vatican Museums here.
- Tickets to Borghese Gallery you can purchase here.
- And tickets to Sant Angelo Castle you will find on the official site.
Night sketches
Rome at night is a really magical city, and decorated beautifully during the holidays. There are a lot of cozy cafes and restaurants and main attractions you could sketch. But the evenings and nights were cool, so I preferred to take pictures and sketch afterwards. Maybe next time I’ll try to make some night sketches differently, from the café maybe or a warm place.
New experience
As we were in Rome I wanted to try something new. There were a lot of workshops like pasta or pizza making, but I wanted something that connected to art. Also I looked for the workshop to be family oriented, so that all of us could participate and enjoy together. And also take home a keepsake for each one. So we chose Ancient Mosaic Workshop. We had a lot of fun!
Highly recommend to participate in Ancient Mosaic workshop. This is really special attraction in Rome. The staff were very kind and they spoke multiple languages.
You are more than welcome to read my post about our experience and other workshops in Rome.
What can I say to summarize this sketch vacation? It was amazing! I had a lot of time to sketch, to be with my significant others and learn something new. This time I got 10 sketches! Hope to sketch more next trip.
Wish you a great sketch trip!
