Ever since my family of five packed up everything we owned and moved from Colorado back to my home state of Florida, we have longed for the day that we could make a return visit to the beautiful and arid Rocky Mountain region. The time has finally come. It has been about seven and a half years since we've been out west and my excitement is coupled with anxiety. Not only am I getting ready to drive 30 hours to the Grand Canyon, our first stop on the journey, but I am getting ready for Tampa Bay Comic Con which will happen just three days after we return. Also, the Zora Bora Gallery in downtown Saint Augustine, FL has been seeing great success with my prints so I am creating a stack of inventory for them to keep stocked up while I am gone. Preparing for three things at once like this is challenging, but I prefer being challenged than being bored.
Leaving my home always presents me with the same conundrum: What art supplies will I take? Whether it's an overnight stay two hours away at my parents' home or a week long trip to camp up in Georgia, I struggle with deciding what to bring for making art. As you may know, my preferred medium is colored pencils but carrying a set of 150 of them is difficult. It's not the transportation that's an issue, but where to set them up to actually use them. I need more space than what is usually available. They're not really convenient to take to a local coffee shop or set up on someone's dinner table when I'm there as a guest. The table in our camper trailer is only about 6-8 square feet so I would monopolize the whole thing. Because of this I usually take my Pigma Micron pens and some Strathmore bristol and I'm good. However, I've been feeling color lately and I'm just not inspired to make black and white work at the moment.
A few month ago I picked up a small watercolor set made my Sakura which is the company who makes the Pigma Micron pens. The set measures about 6"x4"x1" when closed and comes with 24 color cakes. I've only done minimal watercolor work but I feel this is the perfect opportunity to explore it more. The Koi Water Colors, as the set is called, is a small and convenient way to bring an array of colors on this 5000+ mile road trip. I'll be bringing my Strathmore mixed media papers, as well as some watercolor paper to paint on. The work will obviously be a little different than what I normally produce but I expect to learn new things and have fun with it. If you want to see what I come up with I'll be posting on Instagram here. Thank you for following along.
Bryan
