Years ago before I decided to become an architect, I spent a few hapless years at a liberal arts college in upstate New York as an art major.  I remember being enthralled with many of the abstract artists of the 1950s such as Richard Diebenkorn and
Morris Louis (at left).  Of course our professors were trained in this era, which meant that they were not teaching us how to do cute little watercolors.  In fact I don’t recall ever having an opportunity to do any watercolors in college other than occasionally watering down some acrylic paints for some abstract painting.

Later I spent a few summers doing scientific illustration for
the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using Leroy sets, and maddeningly frustrating Rapidograph pens that were anything but rapid.  While the Oceanographic was a wonderful place filled with incredible oceanographers and marine biologists, they were all working out in the waters off of Cape Cod, while I was stuck in a second floor studio laboring over some technical graphs or illustrations for their publications.

After moving back to Arizona to finish architecture school, I
enjoyed trying to capture the spirit of stain painting as done by Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler.  I loved seeing their ART in museums with their huge canvases and free-flowing colors. While trying  to mimic these pieces, I found that there was a great deal of technique involved and that these works were, well, work! 
Since I did not have studio space to accommodate these pieces, I finally starting working outside, but I was not outside to enjoy a
glorious Arizona day – I was simply trying to control the paint splatters from doing damage inside. It took me sometime to figure out that studio work was for artists (with a capital“A”) and that doing studio ART required: (A) a studio;
(B) clients to buy your art; and (C) lots of storage for all that art that was piling up because I did not have clients. 
I then learned that doing travel sketches did not require a studio, clients, or storage other than modest shelf space – and it was much more fun than laboring over a piece of studio ART that I was damn sick of after spending hours on the stupid thing.

For me, the artist who really captured the spirit of place with quick, simple, single line weight, ink drawings, was (and is) Rebecca Gaver (Vandenberghe) – a former Tucson artist who now lives in Kanab, Utah. The first sketch I saw of hers was a poster for the Fort Lowell Historic District walking tour.  She is still capturing amazingly expressive images with a thin-line Rapidograph pen and quick minimal sketches that speak more about a place than many of the labored oil paintings one sees in major galleries.

(Left - June in Red Canyon No. 6 - 2011
by Rebecca Gaver)

 So…I started doing travel sketches and learned a few things that are probably obvious to most people, but took me years to figure out:

 1.  Traveling is more fun when you can take some time to look around and then do a sketch.
 2.  If you’re travelling with others, you have to be really really quick.
 3.  People enjoy watching someone do a sketch and it's a great way to meet people.
 4.  When people watch me sketch, it is not intimidating – it energizes me.
 5.  Doing quick sketches in ink means that mistakes stay on the drawing, yet these errors can become
moments of celebration that I can learn from and refer back to; so that the next sketch will be done a bit differently – hopefully with new mistakes.
 6.  After the trip, it’s a lot easier to put the sketch book on the shelf versus getting filmed developed
(yes I do remember those days…) or editing a bunch of pictures that most people are not interested in seeing.

Of course, one of the challenges with doing travel sketches, is there is still this desire to share the images and experiences with others.  I used to do computer photoshows of our travels that combined my sketches
with some of snapshots, but the time it took to put those shows together was incredibly time-consuming and reminded me of why I left the studio.  So, I now have this simple web page where I can refer friends to go visit
and perhaps share some insights with others who may like ART with a capital “A”, but just want to have some fun while traveling.

Traveling is about packing light and simple - and my watercolour travel pack is just that.  My essential kit includes:
-Pack: mine is an old soft leather knapsack that I’ve had for
years.  It’s not very waterproof, but I live in Arizona where it rarely rains, so if it is raining, I’m not going to be out sketching.  I’m going to be celebrating the moisture in the desert!

-Sketch book: I compromise on watercolour paper for the sake of convenience and speed.  I use Bee Paper Company’s “Super Deluxe Sketch Books” which has a reasonably heavy 93# double sided paper that takes well to pen sketching and watercolour.  I usually bring two and sometimes three sizes: 4 x 6 for really really quick sketches; 6 x 9 for really quick sketches; and 6 x 12 for quick sketches.  Note that speed is the key for field sketches.  If I have more than 15 minutes, my favorite size is the 6 x 12 which lends itself to wide panoramas that are everywhere in the open
Southwest.


-Pen: my latest favorite quick sketch pen is the dual headed IDenti pen by Sakura.  It has a large tip on one end and a fine tip on the other – the ink is waterproof which allows me to throw the wet paint on right away.  I do not use a pencil - there’s usually not enough time to get fussy and I like to get the ink down fast and just celebrate my
mistakes.

-Paint: The KOI Watercolor Paint Pocket Field Sketch 18-Color Set is a durable kit that opens up with lots of trays and has 18 great colors.  I find the 18 color set is just enough variety for what I do.  The kit is also perfect for using the water brushes since it has two cleaning sponges on either side of the colors.  It’s a great kit that folds up small and opens large. With its durable thumb ring on the base, I can also hang onto the kit in just about any
wind.

-Brush: I only use one brush so I find the flat-tip water brush by Kuretake to have the most versatility.  I get a nice wide ½ inch brush for laying down lots of color and then use the edge to get finer detail.  The brush also cleans up nicely with the KOI paint kit sponges.  The large water reservoir holds enough water for several
paintings.

-Camera: I love the Panasonic DMC-TS4 waterproof camera.  It takes great images, is very durable and has a reasonable zoom.  I always try to take a picture first in case I don’t have time to do the field sketch or I get interrupted.  This camera also has a great panorama option that is great fun for the wide vistas or vertical slot canyons.

-Hat: a colorful cap to block the sun is essential here in Arizona.  The more color in your hat, the more your audience will think you are a real artist.

-Fold-up stool:  While I usually chose my subjects by the availability of a seat, there are times where the subject and the available seat just do not get aligned; so I like to have my own stool just in case.  I love the Monarch Butterfly fold-up stool by Alite.  It looks cool, will attract curious on-lookers, and it fits easily into my knapsack.

Other than that, I always like to travel with my wife, Lindy, who shares my joy of doing quick travel sketches in a unique setting - and is usually doing her own fabulous watercolours!