Art & Hiking

“Just curious if anyone at TT does artwork while hiking... (besides photography)...
i.e. sketching, painting, etc.

If you do artwork on the trail, what medium do you use and how do you pack your equipment? Do you do overnights trips with your art supplies, or do you only car-camp or day hike when creating artwork in the great outdoors?”

“I like to carry face and body paint.”

“I've tried to do some sketching on the trail (charcoal pencil and a small sketch pad) but I have found it very hard to do. There are just too many distractions.
last edited: 1/21/05 8:55:09 AM”

“I have always wanted to do rubbings.
you know, like on old graves that you find in the middle of the woods, or cool natural etchings on stones.
I may have to do it on my next hiking trip!


ps, good thread :)
last edited: 1/21/05 8:56:17 AM”

“This is too easy. I will not be the first.”

“Pink - did you hurt your butt on that tp?

I'm going to do charcoal on sidewalks just as soon as we get sidewalks up here.”

“Haahahaha...go ahead BM. It's not gonna be me that'll be first!!!”

“I've done some plein air painting (i.e. painting on location) while car-camping...
I used a french easel, but seem to have a hard time paring down my equipment. I used alkyd paints (vs. oils) to help the paintings dry more quickly... A fellow artist recommended using pizza boxes to put wet panel or canvas paintings in to transport them... but of course, alkyds, acrylics and oil paints are all quite bulky, messy and heavy to carry around for a backpacking trip.

My medium is usually oil paints... but I'm trying out watercolors (you can carry much smaller supplies then...)

Seems like when I'm hiking with Thinkbubelz, there is so much to see and do that I can't let myself sit in one location for long before wanting to see what's behind the next hill or tree... :-)

What I've started to do is to photograph the locations (either digitally or with a 35mm SLR) and then try to do a painting afterwards... but to me, that really deadens the initial feel of the location (and yes, it is quite overwhelming to look at a landscape and to try to paint it on location...)

I've been considering oil pastels, but again, the concern is the mess....

I'd like to find out what others have found to be effective?”

“Using my Initials will not work. Besides, ladies first.”

“Nimble... LOL... that TP was in a glass case-- to prevent anyone from picking it up and using in a frat house or residence hall prank... LOL”

“BM & gem, what are you talking about?
better not be about me!”

“I like to use liquid to draw designs in the dirt. I carry my equipment with me, even when I'm not backpacking ;)”

“Gees... try to talk about something serious and look at where things are going....

Maple, I think they might be referring to the first sentence in your last post...”

“LOL Bison!! I tried that but I fall everytime!!
wonder what I do wrong!”

“And Bison starts it. Thank you. Anyone care to take it to the next level? Gemini?

what medium do you use and how do you pack your equipment?

So many ideas I'm about to burst.”

“Pink, I have a watercolor kit that's just 4x6x1". I'll have to show you it sometime. Windsor and Newton made a fantastic travel set of brushes with a palate attached, pencil, sponge, and gummy eraser. The brushes colapse but are actually very comfortable to use. I've also packed full size brushes in cigar tubes. I tend to take solid paints instead of tubes. Often though none of the supplies get used. I just don't have the energy or desire after hiking all day. I feel inspired but not enough, lol. I tend to sketch in my journal often, it's much less effort.
I do take loads of photos and use them for inspiration for the watercolors I do at home.”

“are there flowers or nuts that are colorful that can be used as paints? the native americans used to use them.
less weight.


HAHA you fools.
nothing wrong with rubbings!!”

“Sass-- I didn't know that you were a painter! :-) We definitely need to get together when the weather warms up a bit! ;-)

I have a small kit by W&N, with about 10 colors and a collapsable brush-- although for some reason, I have a bit of a block when it comes to painting small. Most of my oil paintings are at least 24 x 36 or 36 x 48 or larger... At home, I rarely work smaller than at least 11 x 14...

Adjusting to miniscule brushes and the inability to "paint over" a color (like in oils and acrylics) is the challenge I'm finding in water colors....

Recently, though, i've been doing watercolor "exercises" with post-card sized paintings. trying to learn the technique and get freer with the water colors....


Mapleleaf-- I know that there are some pigments made from plants and/or rocks... but I'm not knowledgeable enough about them... the other question when it comes to plant based pigments is their archivalness (i.e. how permanent will the colors be and will they fade...) That's a whole other ball of wax in itself....”

“I bring along an orange brush. Some call it a trowel. Lightweigth and very compact.”

“I just pretend to be one. ;)”

“hmm that would be a cool project. finding ut what things that can be used for painting and have it stay permently


pink if you or anyone else ever finds out about that or a book on it,let me know.
be cool to find the items in the woods.”

“Well, I do know that some berries and nuts can be used...

Blueberries do an excellent job of staining-- My bandana is a testament to that... :-) and I think Walnut hulls can be boiled to make ink... But part of the problem comes in that many of the plant dyes and pigments from minerals have to be processed (boiling, grinding/mulling, etc.) and mixed with a binder before being usable.... which in effect would probably negate their usefulness unless you have time to spend hours preparing the colors....”

“Bison, me too. It's best if you purposely dehydrate yourself while snowcamping. The bright yellows and oranges against the pure white snow is breathtaking.”

“Well Pinkbubelz
I do photography, Now I know you said not to include this form. But with large format photography it is allot like painting or sketching. With large format you don't walk around click click click. It may take hours to make a set and shoot the scene, to what you have envisioned, as you would as a painter. I have hiked with painter's and other artist. The way we hiked most of time is to choose an area and base camp. then day hike from that point to work. Gather around the fire at night to talk about the day. For the most part everyone goes their own way during the day to find a subject or to work on an idea. Yes, you carry it all. the loads can reach 90 to 100 lbs. I use an external frame pack that I have modified to carry these large loads. Once I reach my base, I cut my load down to about 30 lbs. When I have though hiked, I go about 8 miles a day, depending on the terrain.”

“Flatlander-- what kind of large format camera? I saw a lady at Yellowstone last year who was taking large format photos... She took it up as a challenge and found that she really liked it a lot... :-)

Do you develop your own film as well? I've been carrying around my Nikon D100 with 2 lenses (a 28-70 mm and a 70-200 mm). Quite heavy, but since it is my equipment, I carry my own camera things while Thinkbubelz takes some of the other heavy cargo... :-) I think our packs were about 50-60 lbs... and I packed a kit of tiny watercolor pans and postcard watercolor paper. Unfortunately on the few trips we've gone with my art stuff, it was either too cold or too rainy to paint in watercolors, so I just used my camera instead... :-) I'm just thinking ahead to what we might do next summer-- we want to go to Glacier National Park and I imagine the scenes will be extraordinary....”

“Guess what Methylene Blue does to Urine?

Of course one should be careful only take a very small amount. In fact never take any unless a professional is there, or at least a research assistant with access.”

“Watercolors and colored pencils, if not just pencil sketches.”

“Yo pinkbubelz...

I'm an Artist and when the weather is condusive, I pack a Winsor Newton field box, some Arches cold press paper (I personally like the heavier stuff - 300lb) and some graphite and sometimes a Rotring pen. All my studies are done in pencil first as small thumb nails then i'll do secondary studies adding colour. The pencil studies help me define light sources.

In the studio, I then take all these sketches and formulate the final composition. My process is very tedious and requires alot of patience. Currently, I like working with Acrylic on gesso board.

But when i've hiked with my art gear, the subject matter doesn't involve the hike. I have a ton of ideas archived in my noggin and attempt to work through the concepts out in the wilderness.”

“pink, pink, pink......

This is TT. What did you expect? ;-)

To me, while being in the woods, EVERYTHING around me is ART. One just has to look and feel.”

“hee hee...Yes, I know SS...!

Stratus-- I like doing figures, and have recently done abstracts... I'm venturing into landscapes, but as another artist told me, the problem with trying to paint "plein air" is that you don't have a "viewfinder" or a box around the great outdoors-- just a wide expanse of landscape as far as your peripheral vision will allow... :-)

I think that's why I get a little frustrated sometimes-- I feel like there is too much and I want to put it all down! :-)

But painting loose watercolors based upon my photos seems to be a decent compromise for now (at least until I'm more familiar with watercolors... :-)

Has anyone ever taken oil pastels on the trail? I recently invested in some Sennelier oil pastels-- which are incredible buttery, but almost too much so-- (they smear very easily.) but I like the fact that you can push the colors around and blend them like you can with regular oil paints...”

“I use a Sinar F2 view camera 4x5, for 90 percent of my shots. I do develop my own film, and do my own enlarging. This is the good part and the bad part. When you end with what you envisioned it's great. The view camera is not for everyone. It's slow, It's heavy' It's a pain, but you have total control of the scene. On a good trip of 5 or 6 days I may have only 20 plates. Of these I might only enlarge 2 or 3. All you hear today is resolution, resolution. This is such a small part of the work. The view camera gives you allot of options. Most think that resolution is the main reason for this large format. For me its not, it's the control, as a painter controls the brush so can the photographer control the composer of the scene. Digital, 35mm, 6x4.5, 6x6, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14 these are only tools not magic pills, if you shoot cookie cutter landscapes, on large format they will be clear cookie cutter landscapes. Sorry for going on like that. I guess Ansel Adams said it best when asked what camera he preferred " the larges camera that I can carry" he replied.”

“flatlander Matt:

I definiletly try very hard to compose my photos in my camera vs. cropping afterwards....It's more important to me that I get the image I'm envisioning ... :-) Of course, with the digital, one can get quite lazy--it's really easy to snap photo after photo and then delete the bad ones..., but generally, I try to make each and every image as good as I possibly can. I think my photo skills have been steadily improving over the past year-- I've taken over 9000 photos--some were "photo journalistic" in nature (i.e. student programs, weddings, community organizations... etc.) Others, were purely for the "art of photography" (landscapes, portraits within a "natural" setting (i.e. not studio portraits, but ones where I try to capture the essence of a person either via a candid or a critical moment in their lives), still lifes, etc.

I try to compose my scenes and light them, etc. naturally (really hate flash, but I will use it if needed--usually by bouncing it off of a ceiling or something like that.)

I've never experimented with large format cameras, but recently bought a small machine online and am hoping to try some Polaroid transfers with it... might be an interesting experimentation.”

“pinkbubelz

The subject I gravitate to is generally landscapes but i've alot of interest in preserving a bit of Americana in the form of old stone Revolutionary era houses, farms and other related subjects. To tackle a landscape I have to "subtract" alot of elements and focus on the primary concept and then build around that.

Watercolours....my opinion....the hardest medium to tame. It's unforgiving. One bad stroke can kill a painting.”

“it's very difficult to do while having to squat....though if you walk very careful on your tippie toes...an I do mean very carefully...then you can get quite a nice bit of artwork...especially in the snow

j/k


I sometimes take sketching stuff with me but never seem to have to chance to stop and sketch for a while. But if I don't think I'll get to use it I ditch it effort to save some weight. Heck, that's why I got a digital camera - it's so lightweight!”

“So, I guess I'm not the only one who seems to enjoy the hike and then go back to the painting/sketching at a later time....

One of these days, however, I hope to go back to the Grand Canyon and bring my oil paints or oil pastels with me--and spend a week or 2 just painting & sketching the landscape-- I think that it would not only be challenging, but also quite exciting to do so...”

“Hi Pinkbubelz
This is one of the advantages of large format, that some people say is a disadvantage. Large format slows you down, way way way down. If you are use to digital or a small format. You will not like large format, but being a painter you might. It's like painting those 9000 shots, you would not even think about doing it.When you paint you slow down see the scene in your mind and do it. You take more time and thought because of what is at stake.Allot of large format users only carry 8 to 10 frames into the field with them, Probably 4 more than they need. I have 3 pages that I fill out to take 1 negative through the process, this includes 2 to 3 sketches. In painting you use lines to show perspective in the scene. The same in photography, but with large format the film plane and the lens plane will tilt, swing, shift, rise and fall. So you can alter the geometry of the scene as in painting. TT had a hike in Sipsey in November, this was a photo hike. This was a great idea by Bama. It went very well. Maybe this could be done again. Let me know how the Polaroid goes, from what I hear this is cool.”