If your follow me over on Instagram, you will probably want to skip this post as it is a wrap-up of the competition I entered over at @raileurope. Rail Europe is sponsoring a contest for two creative people to take a trip via rail over Germany and Switzerland. Their #talesonrail2017 closes today and the winners are to be announced in the next two weeks.

To read the Instagram post, click here

To read the Instagram post, click here

To read the Instagram post, click here

To read the Instagram post, click here

To read the Instagram post, click here

To read the Instagram post, click here

To read the Instagram post, click here

"If you don't [keep that travel journal], you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Getting ready for my trip to Acadia National Park and trying to decide what to take is so much fun!

I'm not sure what your approach is, but more often than not, we artists seem to adopt the "more is way better" attitude when it comes to packing up for a trip on which we hope to get some sketching done. In fact, we often try to take the whole studio, never considering how much that's gonna weigh!

After the tickets for my trip were booked, I started setting "maybe" art supplies in a pile at the corner of my desk. This past weekend, I pulled them out and sorted them to see what it was that I thought I wanted to pack and schlepp across two airports. Here's the pile:

Possible art stuff for the trip—the sad thing is that this isn't even all of it! Click to enlarge.

Taking a closer look from the top right:
1. Storage baggies and a piece of brown paper from a brown sack.
2. Masking fluid. Ummm, yeah. Moving on...
3. Assortment of pens, pencils, water brushes, charcoal pencils, watercolor pencils, bamboo pens, white markers and colored ink pens, both permanent and non-waterproof.
4. Wrist band for wiping my brush.
5. Two small plastic boxes containing clips, erasers, kneaded erasers, white and wax crayons and small splatter brushes.
6. Leatherman tool. (This will go in the checked luggage. I don't want to get thrown off the plane before I even get to board.)
7. Sketchbook and palette.
8. Assortment of travel brushes.
9. A fountain pen.
10. White post notes and a see-thru ruler.
11. Stamps, stamp pads, extra decorative paper, and whatnot.
12. (which is not marked in the image) Wet wipes at the top middle of the image. Those will go. They're great for having on hand after I pick up something "icky."
13. And right below the wet wipes is a box with several document clips on top. The clips will go. The box probably won't make the cut.

I have to point out that even with what I've culled from the list above that's still too much stuff to lug around. And believe me when I say that unless you're going on an art trip with likeminded artists or have copious amounts of free time to sketch and paint, it's highly unlikely that the majority of stuff you drag along will ever see daylight. Also, it gets damn heavy. What started out weighing 9 ounces will feel more like 9 pounds by the time you get home!

A Different Approach
Rather than approaching the art supply selection process from the "how much can I take" end, I find I do much better if I pull out what I MUST HAVE—something to draw on, something to draw with, something to add color with and color in some form.

In other words, the basics.

The better I do on choosing the basics, the more "extras" I can take to play with if I get the time.

Let's take another look:

Necessary basics—art stuff I won't leave home without. Click to enlarge.

Again from the center top:
1. Leatherman tool. You never know when you're going to have to operate on some piece of equipment that has suddenly decided to be contrary.
2. Baggies and brown paper. Always be prepared to bring home unexpected (but messy) treasures. Likewise with the brown paper. You just never know when you might need to sketch something on brown paper…or cover up a major oops.
3. Document clips. Yep. That wind is wicked to fight when you're trying to hold everything in your lap.
4. Wrist band. With this item, I don't have to struggle with paper towels fluttering in the wind, dropping on the ground or flopping over onto the wet page.
5. Post-It Notes® in white. I won't take all 1,184 notes. Instead, I'll break off about 50 and fold up the last not to cover the sticky strip. Why notes? When I skip a page I use the notes to write down my thoughts on what will go on that page, weather conditions, etc. Why white? Because I'm using water and have found that if the colored notes get wet they are inclined to leave a colorful imprint on my page. Not cool.
6. Sketchbook with extra pages.
7. See-thru ruler. I seldom use it, but when I need a ruler, I need a ruler.
8. Palette. Self explanatory.
9. Water brushes. These will be tested before I go to make sure I don't have any duds or leakers. I use four brushes (small, medium, large, and flat tips) because the handles are all interchangeable. If I run out of water on one handle, I simply change the handles to the preferred tip and keep going.
10. Fountain pen. I still have to make a decision as to which one (or three) fountain pens I'll be taking plus ink. I say three because one is my workhorse for drawing while the other two are great for lettering. Decisions, decisions!
11. White pens, mechanical pencils, stick eraser and (missing from the image) black waterproof pens. I generally take a couple of white pens (permanent and non-permanent), a loaded mechanical pencil, stick eraser (though this item is not strictly necessary), and the missing black pens. I take the extra black pens to make sure I have backup if I should have an ornery fountain pen or lose a pen. If I draw while I'm flying, it won't be with a fountain pen as they don't like pressure.

What's not showing besides the black pens: scraps of Zeta paper for practice, scraps of tracing paper for testing ideas if necessary, white gouache, wet wipes and possibly one stamp and one stamp pad. Maybe a couple of pieces of decorative paper.

Because I'll be staying in one location most of the time, I am trying to decide if I want to take my travel brushes. I can always use a glass for a water container. It will most likely depend on the weight once it's all in my bag.

All art supplies with the exception of sharp pointy things have to go in the bag. If it doesn't fit, it's not going!

Leaving The Studio Behind
One of the biggest challenges we face when we take it on the road is making the decision to leave the studio at home. For me, getting out and about is learning to use the tools I have as best as I can. That means doing without or making an item do something I didn't intend for it to do.

Sometimes I'm successful. Sometimes not, but I always learn something.

How do you decide what to take on a trip?

Oh My Goodness.

Five years? Really!?!

Yes, FIVE years has flown by and it's time for a celebration of EPIC proportions!

Okay, maybe not epic, but still fun!

I am going to be doing a very special Imaginary Visit to Acadia National Park that will have two bonus assignments (for a total of six visits), fun giveaways each week as well as special pricing for the class!

The class will start on Thursday, October 2nd and close on Thursday, November 20th. There will be lots of prizes* and some lucky folks will even get their class fees refunded.

It's my way of saying THANK YOU for all the good times we've had in the classes. The two sketches in the graphic above are from the very first classes I did at ImaginaryTrips.com!

You may be wondering what Acadia National Park and five years of classes has to do with each other…well, I seem to have several 5's converging in my life at this time.

Bass Harbor Light House

As I prepared to make my grand entrance into my fifth decade, I was asked how I wanted to mark the "event." I've decided I want less stuff in my life and more experiences, so I opted for a trip instead.

I'm heading for the park and you're invited to come along!

If all goes well, the students may even get to drive the curriculum, but we'll have to wait and see if that works out.

It's a celebration for sure, but it won't be complete without y'all there to make it complete, so please come and join the fun!!

Click HERE to come celebrate!

*You do have to be enrolled to be eligible to win. Each person enrolled is eligible to win once. 

Maine Things Double Spread in my Maine Sketchbook Zeta Paper - 4.5 x 15 inches Ink and watercolor

You think you know something and then you find out you don't. 

Shoes For Acadia Acadia Sketchbook from Zeta Paper Watercolor and Ink 7.5 x 4.5"

It doesn't happen too often anymore, but every once in a while, when I'm working in the studio with the music rocking and enough uninterrupted time, I forget I'm sketching.

When that happens, I turn a sketch into a painting.

Like the page above.

And normally, I'd say there's nothing wrong with that…unless I let the page become "precious" as this one did.

When I realized I was adding details to the stitching detail on the pink skimmers, I realized I'd gone a little overboard.

Sigh.

And actually, the painting was fine. It was the lettering I added afterwards that was the problem.

It looked horrid. I mean truly awful.

Maybe it looked worse because the sketches paintings weren't messy like usual.

I started off using the wrong pen. I knew better and I did it anyway.

What's worse is that I didn't stop when I saw it wasn't working.

My punishment was spending two days trying to find a way to successfully cover up the areas I'd written on.

While you can't tell it on screen, you could definitely tell it if you were to hold the page in your hands.

Just disgusting, I tell you.

Using a combination of watercolor ground and white acrylic, I brought enough of the white back to make the page work.

Rather than run the risk of more issues with trying to ink over my patches, I created a tag and glued it down over the most offensive area.

I suppose I may learn one of these days, but it hasn't happened yet so I can't say as I'm holding out much hope.

Anyway, I've got my shoes lined up for splashing around on mud flats and exploring tidal pools.

I've even packed some of my new socks!

Now, I just have to sit and wait for a few more days to fall off the calendar...

Acadia National Park Sketchbook Cover Stillman & Birn Zeta Paper Watercolor and Ink

Going on a trip, for me, begins long before I ever get in the car or plane. It starts with the planning of the trip and once the tickets are purchased, I begin the long and lovely process of deciding which journal format I'm taking, the type of paper I'll be working on and what pigments to put in the palette (often, but not always, determined by the location).

"A-n-t-i-c-p-a-t-i-o-n is making me wait…"

As you might have guessed, I'm heading up towards Maine and the art you see above is the cover of my new sketchbook I'll be using.

I decided I wanted a long horizontal spread for the trip. Take a look over on Flickr at some of the panoramas and you'll know why I want this format! Here lately, my paper of choice has been Stillman & Birn's Zeta paper, but they don't make a horizontal themed sketchbook.

What they do make is loose sheets of paper, 22 x 30 inches!

And violá, I have the beginnings of my sketchbook. The folded page is 7.5 x 4.5 inches. A full spread will be 15 inches wide—plenty of room for some of those gorgeous views. You may be wondering about the size…let me explain:

Damaged paper

Unfortunately, when I received the paper from the art house, it was damaged. Since I'd already decided on the long format and to go against the grain with the pages, It was just a matter of adjusting the width to eliminate the damage at the bottom.

Over on Facebook, in the Artist's Journal Workshop group, Tina Koyama shared that she made signatures of paper, but them in a cover and then bound them together after they were complete rather than carry the entire sketchbook around at one time.

I decided to take that fabulous idea and run with it, but I needed a cover:

Leather Cover with an elastic loop close

If this puts you in mind of a Midori's Traveler's Journal then I did something right as that was my inspiration! I stumbled across those journals late in 2011. In mid-2012, I bought some leather, stamps and dye with the intentions of making my own. We already had a collection of tools for working with leather.

Ummm…I have no idea what happened to the intervening years so let's fast-forward to July 2014 and I finally got around to making my own journal. For those of you interested in making your own, there are a number of excellent YouTube videos on the subject.

The sketchbook allows me to carry two signatures of 4 pages each. I've already punched holes in the middle of the pages  and tied them together. This is only for the sake of carrying and so the pages don't move when I'm working across the spread.

When I finally complete my journaling from the trip, I will take all of my completed signatures and bind them with covers using the coptic binding method. (There are also a number of YouTube videos on this as well.) Using this method, I won't have a lot of unfinished pages and I won't have the bulk of the entire sketchbook to haul around.

One other plus will be that if by some odd chance I should lose the sketchbook (eek!) or drop it in the water (argh!), I won't lose all of my pages.

I'm only just getting started on this journal and I'm already having way too much fun and building my anticipation. Rather than have all the fun and then bombard you with all the pages at the end of the trip, I'm going to start sharing them now and along the way.

What do you do to prepare for your travels, anything special?

Nearly Live Practice of Sketching Puffins Watercolor and Ink Stillman and Birn Zeta Bound Sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 inches

I am planning a trip to Acadia National Park towards the end of this summer and I have always, always, Always, ALWAYS wanted to see puffins in the wild.

When I stumbled across a couple of puffin cams here and here, it seemed like a good idea to get in some practice. The cams are not live yet, but they have several videos of the highlights and it's just like sketching from real life.

Just as I started to get a pose down, the bird would move or fly away. Sometimes, the video would change to a completely different location.

Sigh.

There is no "one" bird on the page. Instead, I used an eye from one bird, a beak or wing from another until I had "most" of the creature showing on the page. I even tried sketching from memory with limited success.

When I couldn't finish a pose, I'd start on some of the different body parts and that's how I managed to come up with a puffin body that's less than an inch and peg-legged—the creature moved before I could even get his feet sketched!

The nerve of some birds. ; •)

When doing this type of sketching I always (attempt to) approach the page with the thought that it will be an adventure and I may or may not have a finished page that I like, let alone love. And that's okay because it's more about what I can learn about my subject matter, strengthening my observation skill as well as my hand and eye coordination.

I gotta tell you, it was amazing fun! And time FLEW by! It was like being there and with the help of technology, I was! Just amazing. Without disturbing or threatening the habitat of these wonderful "little friars," I was able to enjoy sketching them.

There are a number of different cams that spotlight the lives of ospreys, eagles and other birds as well as bears, dogs and all manner of beasties that I intend to take advantage of when I'm wondering what I'm going to sketch or when I don't feel like braving Florida's high humidity and temperatures in the middle of summer.

Getting back to the puffins…they live in the park in the summer months and their summer runs from April to August. They'll have "puffed" before I get there.

Dagnabit!

I missed them in Alaska too. Apparently, I'm going to have to plan a Puffin Tour at some point if I'm ever going to see the cute little rascals for myself. They live most of their lives on the open sea only coming back to land to breed.

Did you know puffin swim using their wings to propel them through the water much as they do when they fly? Their feet as used as rudders. How cool is that?!

Did I mention that I really want to see puffins in the wild?

What bird or animal do you want to see in the wild with your eyes?