I really enjoyed being creative on my recent holiday. As well as drawing my breakfast each day (see previous post) I also created drawings based on our travels around the area we were staying. I really enjoy being a graphic designer and working to a client’s brief as it gives me direction. Sometimes in my personal work I can flap about not knowing what to do, so it was great to have the inspiration of the places I visited to give me that direction.
If you ever find yourself in Mallorca then my recommendations are:
– Stay in Soller at Finca Ca’ Sant. A beautiful small hotel with two pools, one with columns (obviously) but both with stunning mountain view. It’s also surrounded by orange and lemon groves, and their breakfasts are legendary.
– Take the small wooden tram down to the port, it runs right through the main square and is lots of fun.
– Visit the cementary in Soller. It’s beautiful, and so lush. The designs of the gravestones, vaults and mausoleums are really ornate and have great typography. Again, comes with bonus mountain views.
– Brave the drive down to Sa Calobra. It’s 13km of VERY steep and twisty turns, including one turn where the road goes under itself. The views are stunning, and the box canyon beach and river gorge at the bottom make it worth the (lighter than expected) yelping. Do go early before the coaches start descending and leave just after lunch before they start driving back up again. It’s not a road you want to be reversing on!
– Have lunch at Ca’s Patro March restaurant in Cala Deia. It’s where one of the scenes of the Night Manager was filmed. It’s in a beautiful small cove, and the restaurant sits right on the edge of a cliff over the sea. These factors can make it super crazy busy but we were very lucky and got a table straight away. Very tasty red mullet, yum yum.
– Visit the pretty small villages in the Serra de Tramuntana, including Valldermossa, Deia and Fornalutx.
All of these tips are the inspiration for the illustrations shown here. Now that I’m back in Brighton (where did the summer go while I was away???) I’m going to have to find a new project to illustrate, hopefully without too much flapping!