Frank Drummond Allison (1863 – 1951) was an early 20th Century Canadian painter born in Saint John, New Brunswick, trained in Montreal, New York and Europe and found his subjects in many parts of the world. (Above: L’Arbre Plantan, watercolor 7.5 x 9″)

Although he painted a variety of subjects, Allison had a special interest in old buildings, bridges, cities, towns and coastal scenes. He is perhaps best known for his watercolours.

Allison exhibited with the Royal Canadian Academy exhibitions between 1915 and 1941; at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Spring Shows between 1915 and 1939. Among his solo shows during his career was one for his watercolours at the T. Eaton Company gallery in Montreal in November of 1933. He returned to New Brunswick that year and lived in the Maritimes for the rest of his life.

Frank Drummond Allison works are in the permanent collections of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg, Ontario), the New Brunswick Museum (Saint John), and the Owens Art Gallery (Sackville, N.B.).

This is #52 in the series 150 Artists, an ongoing series on Canadian artists you should know.

Luis Gómez Feliu, an illustrator based in Madrid, sketches his hotel rooms while travelling, including the occasional gift of a ceiling map. Exquisite execution. See more on his Behance site, here.

National Geographic and Tourism New Zealand sent Berlin-based artist Christoph Niemann to New Zealand to bring his experiences and impressions of the country alive through art.

Christoph Niemann is well known for his simple, witty illustrations that cleverly combine neat paint-like strokes with real-life objects, creating fun and whimsical scenes.

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An interview with the artist and his latest exhibition, here.

Gerard Darris was in the French alps when he stopped to sketch a herd of cows with trademark alpine bells.  “But when we draw sitting motionless, the cows approach closely and become very curious, one starts to lick my backpack and I fear that it will take on my picnic ! I have to change places to continue my sketch !”The most interesting travel sketches rarely are predictable, or done at tourist sites. The best ones give you a little slice of something unexpected. Flickr user kh_anele found a bit of wilderness in Berlin, where a natural oasis had developed, “wedged between the railway lines of the long-distance and S-Bahn and interspersed with overgrown tracks.”

These observations about people, transport, animals and life in general (above) while on a bus in India are stellar examples of how to use a travel sketchbook. The artist sketchrboy is a Flickr pro with multiple pages  of similar examples. (Click on the image, then click on the URL to read all the text.)

And then sometimes, it’s just the colours and glorious technique that catch the eye (see original here)

See many more sketchbooks in the Art Junkie Sketch & Draw category, here.