In January 2025 I went to Lanzarote to test out some things regarding drawing in and under water. My focus was on snorkeling. I already knew how to draw underwater, while diving. But my intention was to look at a more accessible way than diving. Both in terms of the difficulty of the activity and the costs. I really want more people to admire the underwater world.
What would it be like to draw in the water while snorkeling? Would it be difficult if there was (a lot of) water movement? Would the pencils hold up in salt water? Would I get seasick without medication? How easy would it be to hold the clipboard? All kinds of questions haunted my mind.

I would start, as far as possible, in a quiet part of the sea. And then let all the experiences come to me. Then I would funnel my questions more and seriously investigate them. The intention was that I would film myself. Then I could look later at what other things needed attention. And also to see how it would look to the ‘audience’ when I was going to present it.
There was quite a bit of wind in Lanzarote the first week. The water was quite wild because of that. Because I was alone at the time, I chose a kind of secluded area on Lanzarote to be on the safe side. The ‘swimming pools’ of Punta Mujeres are shielded from the sea by a stone wall.

When I arrived it was raining ☔️. I waited a while until the rain shower had passed.
I sometimes hear people say that it doesn’t matter at all when it rains. You get wet anyway. That’s true, but this is why I don’t like it in the rain as much:

  • It’s not nice to get changed in the rain
  • Visibility is often less with rain
  • You get cold more quickly

The rain did mean that I was the only one at the pool. The village itself seemed deserted.
I went into the water and the water temperature was good for over an hour. I tried out all sorts of things. My wetnotes, my clipboard, my colored pencils.
It was so much easier for me. No seasickness. The movement didn’t affect the drawing that much. The colors came out nicely underwater. I just drew something. It was more about testing now than really nature journaling.
It was great fun to see how the gobies kept coming closer to me. Other fish, seemingly curious, kept swimming near me. They also seemed to find the camera under water interesting. The shrimps danced happily in my direction. I already thought it was a success.

Now let’s see how the pencils would hold up during the next sessions. And pay a little more attention to the difference between the full-face mask and my diving goggles and snorkel.

What I did notice was that it’s important to carefully let the paper dry in the sun after the session or to carefully dab it dry. This prevents the drawing from getting smeared.