When Pat Goodale returns from a trip, her friends don’t ask to see the photos she took. They want to see her sketchbook journal — a diary of people, places and memorable moments that she compiles while on the road.

Each book has colorful watercolor and ink illustrations, hand-written accounts and quick quips of the places she has been, from rolling olive groves in Spain to a volcano in Costa Rica. Where most tourists absorb what they see in a series of fleeting moments, Goodale captures the essence of a place, from the architectural details in cathedrals to mosques, to local artists at work weaving baskets, to dancers or anything else that catches her eye.

When satisfied with her quick pencil sketch, she goes over the drawing in ink “usually while on the tour bus” going to the next site, she said. In the evenings — when she is at the hotel — she adds color with a travel watercolor paint set that fits in the palm of her hand and holds the half pans of paint.

In this way, the Saratoga Springs artist has recorded her trips to China, Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Costa Rica, Turkey and Alaska. The reaction to them has been so positive that Goodale is offering a class on sketchbook journaling through the Saratoga County Arts Council starting May 7 and continuing for six weeks. Participants will learn how to go about creating their own sketchbooks drawing various locations throughout Saratoga Springs.

“It’s practice for when they are on a trip. When they travel, they will know what to bring and how to go about creating their own books,” she said.

artistic tendencies

Goodale said she has always made art. As a child growing up in Buffalo, she went to art school every Saturday from second grade through middle school. She majored in art in high school but took a degree in science from Bethany College in West Virginia thinking she would pursue a career as a medical illustrator. Instead, Goodale married and raised a son and daughter in Niskayuna, where she and her engineer husband, Bruce, lived for 23 years. During this period, Goodale earned a master’s in art degree from The College of Saint Rose, taught art at the Woodlawn School and served on the Niskayuna School Board.

As time allowed, Goodale pursued her interest in art. And when she retired in 2000, she took a studio at 79 Beekman St. in Saratoga Springs’ art district.

“It’s wonderful. There is so much creative energy there. And there’s always someone willing to listen to your ideas,” she said referring to her fellow artists.

Goodale has worked in oils, acrylics, pastels and watercolors. The latter is the most “unforgiving” she said meaning that once the watercolor paint is on the paper, it is difficult — but not impossible — to correct an error. “There’s always white-out,” she said.

Pastels are her favored medium but “too fragile” to pack up for a trip. “They need to be handled carefully” or they smear or flake, she said.

Her first travel sketchbook was drawn in 1999 while on a trip to Alaska. “I drew sketches but I also bought postcards” to use as a reference when completing detail or adding color. She still does this on occasion.

She also records information picked up on the way. In Alaska the following quote resonated with her: “If Alaska is the clear bold oil, Sitka is the light airy watercolor.”

Early on, Goodale didn’t realize the sketchbooks would become such a strong part of her travel experience. It wasn’t until she took a class on creating travel books with Tom Ryan at the Upper Hudson Watercolor Society that she realized how creatively expressive these books could be.

artistic point of view

And they are. Where a camera could record part of an the image, the drawings often show more through expression or sometimes exaggeration. For example, a train trip up a windy mountain is illustrated with the train moving snake-like through a series of tunnels up the slope.

The travel book class also provided practical information.

“He told us about the type of book to use” and other supplies. Today, Goodale travels with a Cheap Joe’s — an art supply company — spiral “American Journal” sketchbook in a cloth tote bag. She likes the horizontal landscape version. In a pocket she carries a mechanical pencil — so she always has a sharp point available — a white eraser, and a fine-line ink drawing pen. “It is light and easy to carry. And I always have it with me. I can stop and do a sketch on the spot anywhere,” she said.

Sometimes she scribbles notes of the colors of an object on the sketch so she can accurately paint in later. And, when necessary she has done sketches directly in ink but “that’s risky,” she said.

She prefers to do the ink when she is back on the bus. Does the bumpy ride interfere? Not usually. She joked that it may have even been beneficial when she was drawing on a twisty Costa Rican road. “I think it helped with the drawing of the foliage,” she said.

Goodale is relaxed and light-hearted and seems to go with the flow. The key to creating a travel journal is to keep up with the drawings each day, she said. “It is critical. It would be easy to fall behind. If there is a really intricate scene with complicated perspective or details that I want to capture I buy a postcard to reference.” On a necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention note, she added a second benefit of the postcard is that it provides a straight edge for her drawings.

Each cover unique

To distinguish each book’s cover, Goodale shops for a fabric that reflects the country or its culture. “I’m always looking for handmade things,” she said. The sketchbook of China is covered in red silk, the Spain sketchbook has a leather jacket and the Mexican book has layered mola fabric stitched and hemmed to portray a bird in the forest.

At the start of each book is a map outlining the route the tour will be taking. Goodale adds this detail before leaving home and said it comes in handy en route and that the books — while enjoyed by others — are created for her.

“The book is for me, not for the people on the trip. It’s is my diary, my journal,” she said. An unexpected benefit of sketching on her travels are the interactions with fellow travelers and native peoples. “I tended to be introverted. Sketching has opened up friendships and helped me enjoy the experience of traveling. People are always asking ‘How’s the book doing?’ ” she said. Often Goodale will make copies for her bus mates once she gets home.

As she draws, local people often peer over her shoulder curious about what she is doing. Sometimes she barters a drawing for the creation of a local artist.

Each book has a personality and provides a sense of the trip. And not just the sights seen but the unexpected adventures of traveling with a group. For example, one traveler left behind a pair of sneakers and the hotel staff ran out holding the sneakers asking who forget them. At another stop, the same woman left behind another item of clothing. It became a pattern.

Goodale recorded these incidents in the sketchbook. It wasn’t until later when that forgetful woman had an empty suitcase to pack with new items that it became apparent she deliberately discarded the old to make room for the new.

Other sketchbook scenes show a woman who fell overboard on a rafting trip, the entire bus load of tourists asleep, and the two ladies who were habitually late were deliberately drawn on the very last page of the sketchbook. “It’s the details that make the books. I try to include something about everyone on the trip,” Goodale said.

For example, in one drawing two woman are being chased by a howler monkey and another page — after a visit to a Picasso exhibit — Goodale drew the bus driver Picasso style. “I don’t think he liked that,” Goodale said.

There are dozens of other humorous touches. One page accidentally drawn upside down bears a note that the drawing was done after sampling Royal Palm wine.

And though Goodale is an accomplished artist, the book is more about capturing a moment than artistic perfection. In one drawing she used stick figures to illustrate a marital artist’s aerial acrobatics.