Light Sketching Supplies

Recently one of you asked to see a photo of all the gear that I (Jim) take on the spot for field sketching.
Here’s all you need for the watercolor pencil sketches: a few pencils, a waterpen, and a pocket drawing sketchbook. They all fit in two pockets of a jacket, so you can take them anywhere.


The complete watercolor/drawing sketch kit fits easily into a fanny pack or a briefcase.
1. Paper towels in a plastic bag.
2. A plastic pencil box
3. Assorted pencils and erasers.
4. A sharpener with a shaving catcher.
5. 60 ml (1/4 cup) wide-mouth Nalgene water container.
6. Bound watercolor book (Moleskine, Cass, etc)
7. Schmincke (or Winsor Newton or Lukas) small watercolor box with half-pans, with larger pans of white (used only for special effects) and of sepia

Painting in the Car

On a rainy day, one of the only options is to run the heater and the windshield wipers while you prop your work on the steering wheel. The problem I had at this paintout a few years ago in Rye, New York, was fogged-up windows. The painting was a dud, and I ended up rubbing it down and doing another once the rain cleared in the afternoon.

Hi, everyone, Jeanette here. Thanks so much for all of your encouragement. Since this post is about sketching from the car, I thought this one might fit. I did this ballpoint pen and watercolor sketch from the front passenger seat on a cold day in the Catskill Mountains. We were waiting for our younger son to finish skiing with his friends. We had an hour to ourselves (sans teenagers) and Pine Hill is sort of a forlorn and ramshackle little town, our preferred locale for sketching.

Since all I had with me was a sketchbook with laid-finish paper, the paper buckled a little. The color is from my palm-sized Windsor&Newton bijou box, bought in Los Angeles 27 years ago when Jim and I were dating.

Speaking of Jim, he called from Malta, and helped me with my technical problems. I also appreciate all of you who explained the quirks of Blogger for me. Jim is fine, sketching away, and hasn't yet been able to find an internet cafe from which he can upload photos. Something about the software being correct. I'm sure he'll have plenty to show when he gets back.

Spectrum Annual of Fantastic Art

The 15th Spectrum Annual is now available in bookstores and online retailers. This collection of the imaginative artwork features artwork from all over the world and includes a new concept art category.

The jury included Justin Sweet, Daren Bader, Frank Cho, Tim Bodendistel and Kelley Seda (photo by Arlo Burnett). Directors Cathy and Arnie Fenner say that the hardcover version, which will be distributed to accepted artists was held up a little bit in customs, but should arrive within a month or so.

More information about Spectrum, along with application forms for next year’s competition (Deadline January 23, 2009), can be found at the official Spectrum Website: http://www.spectrumfantasticart.com/about.php

Sketch to Finish

When Logsdail went from the smaller version (above) to the larger finished version (below), he added a dog and a kid to the lower left of the composition. He brought the vehicle at the left edge and the man with the newspapers closer up.

He made the street more slick and shiny, and to judge from the reproductions, he warmed up the colors from the gray of the sketch. Which is better? It’s a tough call.


(Note from Jeanette:
I am not computer literate, and I'm sorry to say that I don't have any idea how to move the pictures around on these posts that Jim has prepared. Sorry, and thanks for your patience.)

Track Excavator

I’m attracted to sketching unlovely subjects, not to make pretty pictures, but just to understand how things are made. As I did this watercolor study of a track excavator, I was thinking how much the mechanical arm is like the anatomy of a human arm.

The main difference, I guess, is that the hydraulic “muscles” work more by pushing, while human muscles work by pulling.

North Africa Trek

Today I’m leaving for a month-long sketching expedition to North Africa. My traveling companion is the writer/adventurer Alan Dean Foster. I first got to know Alan over 20 years ago when I painted covers for his science fiction novels. Later he wrote two novels in the Dinotopia universe.

Over the years Alan has sent me postcards from places like Timbuktu, Pitcairn Island, Great Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea (above) and Oouagadougou. This time I’m thrilled to be joining him. I’ll be researching a couple of different projects and sketching in watercolor and gouache. We’re going first to Malta, and then Tunisia and Morocco.

I’m leaving the laptop home with my wife Jeanette, who will be posting regularly to the blog, using content that I worked up in advance. Maybe she will share a few of her own sketches. If I can figure out the tech, I’ll try to send home some pictures from Internet cafes along the way before returning on November 26.

Picasso Pair-ups

Paris is celebrating three new blockbuster museum exhibitions, where Picasso’s work is paired up with masterpieces from art history.

The Louvre is presenting “Picasso and Delacroix.” At the Musee d’Orsay they’ve got “Picasso and Manet.” The Grand Palais features “Picasso and the Masters.”

These exhibitions are a brilliant idea, and real crowd-pleasers. The only problem with is that Picasso’s work doesn’t look much like the stuff they’re pairing him up with.

So here at GurneyJourney we’d like to propose some more logical Picasso Pair-ups.

Picasso and Masterpieces of Clown Art


Picasso and the Chicken Carcass


Picasso and Motel Tikis


Picasso and Cow Flops