Where would I go for an art vacation?

This is one of the questions asked during my giveaway a few months back, and it's been hard for me to decide on an answer. My ideal art vacation isn't so much a specific place as a conglomeration of artistic opportunities.

I decided I would take a vacation that would inspire me as well as allow me to practice.

I would travel through the South Dakota/Wyoming/Colorado/Utah area. I would watch wild mustangs. Of course, in my dream vacation, they would let me get close enough that I could see them clearly to sketch and take photographs.

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I'd study interesting landscapes and practice drawing them to improve my backgrounds, an area I always struggle with (and hence the reason so many of my drawings have no background).

Black Hills (South Dakota):

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Badlands (South Dakota):

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Wyoming:

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Colorado:

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Utah:

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In Wyoming, I would also go to the Cheyenne rodeo, and while it would be very difficult to draw anything happening in such an action-packed event, I would get some wonderful photos to work from after I got back home.

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To finish up my trip, I would be magically teleported to Kentucky (since I get miserably sick on airplanes). There I would go to racetracks and spend days at the Kentucky Horse Park studying every different breed of horse known to man, especially the Spanish and draft breeds that intrigue me so much but are pretty much non-existent in my area.

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Somewhere along the way, I would visit an equine/western themed art museum and be inspired by the amazing ability of other artists.


Now that I look at this, there's not a place on the list (other than the Cheyenne Rodeo, though I have been in Cheyenne) that I haven't been to before. Hmmm.... maybe I need to do some research and expand my horizons.


What's the best vacation you've been on? Where have you always wanted to go?