How to use this Page

I’m back from my free range field test: a weekend trip to Fruita, Colorado for some plein air mountain biking fun. (If you missed the first post about all of my new plein-air equipment, you can read all about it here.)

First stop were the Kokopelli trails, which take you along the edge of the Colorado river. There are gorgeous vistas at every turn, and I hiked a few meters off trail and painted one of my favorite views of the canyon. If I’d been walking, it would have probably taken about four hours to get to this spot (and another four to hike back!) but with the bike I could get there in no time.

Most bikers on the path below didn't even see me.

The equipment really improved the experience. Not only was I more comfortable, but I had a much easier time judging color and value with the help of my shade umbrella.

The final painting

One benefit of combining mountain biking and painting was that my husband could do extra laps while waiting for me. Sometimes he had a good view of my painting spot:

See the white dot of my umbrella?

I was painting this interesting rock formation. So many holes!

So, you ask, how was all the equipment?

The Umbrella (Bestbrella white)
Pros: Provided a neutral, even light. I found it easy to set up and relatively stable. It even protected my painting against the odd sprinkle of raindrops.
Cons: I’m not sure I’d use it in a downpour or high winds, but that’s not really what it’s for. When the sun was at certain angles (like right behind my head) it was difficult to properly position the umbrella because the easel got in the way of the tripod pole. I think this is actually a problem with the tripod, not the umbrella: if I had a taller tripod I could have clamped the umbrella lower on the leg in order to miss the easel.

The Easel (En Plein Air Pro Traveler Series)
Pros: Easy to set up, lightweight, simple.
Cons: The easel is fitted with holes to hold your brushes, but a lot of my brushes are either too big or too small to fit in these. Some slide all the way down to the ferrule, while others stick out quite a bit. On more than one occasion I’d absentmindedly put down a brush only to have it slip right through.

The Stool (Walkstool Comfort)
Pros: Durable, easy to set up, pretty comfortable.
Cons: You can only use it with the legs fully extended when it’s on level ground.

The Backpack (Camelbak Motherlode)
Pros: Spacious, durable, well-balanced, lots of convenient pockets.
Cons: It’s not designed with women in mind, and was wide and bulky on me, particularly around the shoulder area. But the width makes it perfect for holding the easel, so I’m not complaining.
Other notes: It can also throw off your center of gravity while biking, which makes technical terrain very difficult. I wouldn’t recommend this for beginners. In fact, I made my husband carry it most of the time so that I wouldn’t mess up and fall off the cliff.

I'm just posing. I gave it back to him right after this photo.

The tripod (an old mini travel tripod–I have no idea what brand or model.)
Pros: Very small, compact and lightweight.
Cons: My mini tripod is clearly not meant to hold a bulky plein air easel and umbrella. It’s unstable, and is so small that there’s no way you could use it while standing. The short legs make it difficult to level on steep slopes. It’ll do for now, but I’m going to start saving up for something a little more versatile for the future.

We also visited 18 Road, on the other side of the valley.

Conclusion:

All in all, I’d call it a success! If you’re thinking of doing more “free-range” painting and are hesitating about investing in equipment, I recommend that you go for it. No matter where you go to paint–be it far off the beaten path or as close as your back yard–it’s a fun challenge and a great way to improve your painting skills.

A few weeks back I had some time to kill and just happened to be right near the Denver Zoo. Armed with sketchbooks and the new water-soluble colored pencils I was itching to try out, I bought myself a ticket and ventured forth to find some likely subjects.

As you can see from the sketch below, everyone looked a little bored. Or maybe they were just relaxed by the balmy spring sunshine?

Less exotic species were still fair game for my sketchbook. Here is a family of wild primates who were busy observing other wild primates:

The Okapi spent most of their time eating, but didn’t seem to mind posing too much. They had pretty nice digs, which meant that they were rather far away from the nosy humans, but I did my best to get some detail in.

These African penguins were full of energy. A little girl was using a mirror to reflect a spot of light into their pen, which resulted in a frenzy of excitement as the penguins chased the light around their pond as though it were a fish. (They were probably sorely disappointed that it was *not* a fish.)

Eventually it was time to leave and go back to my own habitat, but I couldn’t depart without sketching this guy. He was universally adored. He certainly seemed utterly satisfied with life as he dozed in his little mud puddle. Whatever the secret to happiness is, I believe hippos have found it.

Hey all. Just posting a little something I did for Clubhouse magazine’s April ’11 issue. It’s Easter-related, as you can see and was a really fun piece to pull together. I enjoy doing the busy scenes. It’s always a special challenge to integrate the “silly things” these puzzles house. In this case, the kiddos are to find things that begin with “SU”. See if you can find them too!

(Click on the image to view an enlargement)

We believe that a lot of movies - particularly the more violent ones - are not for little kids. Just a personal feeling that they are not really appropriate - ie. the ratings. Today, Mo came home talking about how he was playing at recess with the boys and they were playing Batman and Star Wars and he had no idea what they were. He played along for awhile, but the jig was soon up. Then, once again - he played by himself. Let me preface this and say - he JUST turned five.

Are we hampering his social development by making him the 'different' kid on the playground? Is his childhood going to be like mine? Amazing at home and terrible in the school yard? What are we to do? We read Roahl Dahl books (dark indeed), do not filter information about death and sickness, but explain it when asked. He watches the news with us, and we tell him the truth. He knows where his food comes from and where babies come from... and yet I feel like maybe, maybe we SHOULD let him watch these movies.

Then, this past weekend, we were at a beautiful wedding at Camp Wanakita. My Tent Sisters were there - fellow wild women of the woods (one was getting married), and my friends little guy - well - he is JUST LIKE mine. They played non-stop, in the sand, in the creek, in the trees. Not one mention of movies or superheroes, they talked bird calls and cool rocks. Too bad he lives all the way in Nelson, BC. They performed their made-up songs on the stage and ran themselves ragged at the party. SO neat to see, Mo has great friends - better than great friends, but this connection is was a rare jewel.

Welcome back to the ol’ blog. Whats new? Well, the cycle continues.

New cards went out in July with a pretty good spike in web traffic; hopefully, this will mean some commissions to come. I have also gotten some good web traffic from my emails with several direct responses about the artwork. I even had a commission come from the last set of images, however we were not able to work out a suitable budget for the rights requested. It always sucks to turn down a job, and you get scared that it was a mistake. But if we do not ever say “no,” then we will never re-establish a value to the use of illustration.

You gotta value what you offer; I don’t mean you should be conceited or pompous. Don’t talk down to the client or insult them. Simply offer what you can at their budget and then state what you would need to charge for what they are requesting; this way, the choice is theirs. You aren’t “backing out;” you are providing options, and if neither option works, then the job dies with no one being at fault. I think some artists take offense at a low-budget offer, and then lash out at an art director; what purpose does that serve? Not only does it make you look like a big-headed jerk, but it also make illustrators in general look the same way.

I digressed; I wont rant about etiquette and manners today.

I’ve been a little behind on the blog posts again. Sorry. So this post features the creation of an illo for Matthew Bates, art director of SNEWS. This magazine is a trade-based magazine for folks in the outdoor/recreation field. Matthew is also art director for Backpacker; I had sent him promos aimed at work in Backpacker, and he brought me onto SNEWS, which he was re-tooling with better visuals. Confusing? Sorry!

The article was a profiling of several up-and-coming outdoor industry designers. Matthew wanted something bold and iconic, and he referenced several pieces on my site as well as some poster art that he thought would guide me in the right direction. Matthew was a pleasure to work with; he was really flexible as I was simultaneously working on other projects. We verbally communicated concepts, and we reached a point where only one sketch was needed:
I was working off of the phrase “giants of industry” which came into my mind while reading the article. I brought in specs that one would see on a blueprint or model sheet to re-enforce the industry aspect. I was really motivated by the phrase “outdoor industry,” and I wanted to somehow juxtapose the two words visually.

Matthew approved the sketch and I created two versions as he was not sure if his editors would want the “specs” or not. So I did one without (more of a portrait) and one with (more of a concept). Also, I hated the guy to the left so I re-drew his head:
In the end, Matthew used the version with specs, and that was a great relief as I felt the other version felt a little generic.

In the end, I’m not thrilled with what I did with this piece; some of the drawing isn’t my strongest. However, the artwork does what its supposed to do so it is a success. I sometimes think I lose sight of the forest for the trees. However, this piece has also inspired me to try my hand at more “group portraits” in the future. Planning is in progress so hopefully I’ll get to them soon.

Enjoy the Day,
Chris