What's in your field-kit ???

There have been some fantastic blogposts lately about drawing and painting field-kits.  The two that most impressed me are by Shevaun Doherty and Polly O'Leary

I find that the contents and method of carrying the field-kit can vary dependant on where you are going to be working.  Shevaun's blogpost is about sketching whilst in a museum and Polly's about studying plants in an area of marsh in the summer heat.

© Shevaun Doherty.  Sketching in Dublin Museum of Natural History

Having worked as an Ecologist in the past I was always used to having a survey field-kit pre-packed according to the survey type.  The kit I used for the woodland, hedgerow and grassland surveys contains many of the same items that I use in my current field-kit for drawing and painting.  More about that later.

Looking back through some images from the last few years I came across a few that show previous field-kits.

2011  A trip to New Hampshire and Maine.  Travelling from England meant that room was limited in my luggage.  Contents: A small A6 sketchbook, palette, Faber Castell fine liners, Pentell brush pen, propelling pencil, cotton rag, waterbrush (that I didn't use), travel sable brush and small folio with individual sheets of watercolour paper within.

2012 A trip to Wales and the Isle of Skomer.  I love this foldaway zip up pouch.  I can fit so much in there, but it folds and zips up completely.  As we were travelling around Wales by car, I could be a bit more extravagant and take a few more materials !

Now to the present .......

 

Recently, I have been sketching woodland plants.  Even though I have visited woods relatively close to home I still wanted to have a compact field-kit with the added addition of a firm surface to work on.

 

 

My present field-kit: An A3 'Weather Writer' (see below), paint palette, H & F pencils, water pot, small rule, scissors, specimen bags, hand lens (several of different magnifications), travel paintbrush, waterbrush (still trying to get used to using these), heavy-weight cartridge paper, ID charts (this one for ferns), Wild Flower Key by Francis Rose (my original one is in pieces, so this is a shiny new one) and finally, a zip up wallet which will contain all of my drawing and painting bits.

 

 



Now to the Weather Writer.  An ingenious invention, that I used non-stop during fieldwork as an ecologist.  It has a flap that closes with studs, which means everything can be contained in the dry.  This can then pop open and if the weather is a bit dodgy, you have a covered area to work under.  In addition on the reverse are two clips to make it into a clip board.  There is also a hole either side (on the A4 model), so that you can string a cord through it and hang it around your neck, which then leaves your hands free.

 

 

I now have a busy few days ahead, so no fieldwork for me.  I am off to London to see the Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition at Westminster Central Hall.  It is a fabulous opportunity to meet up with friends from all over the world.  Four of my paintings are being exhibited too.

 

 

© Sarah Morrish 2014.  A View Inside - Echinacea purpurea

© Sarah Morrish 2014.  A View Inside - Rosa rugosa hips

© Sarah Morrish 2014.  Quercus robur - New life

 

 

 



© Sarah Morrish 2014.  Galls of Quercus species

Something a little different ........... and now to wood !

In my last post I mentioned about having a break from my normal creative streak.  Sometimes this can be an enforced break due to health reasons, but it can also be because we have just been so busy with painting commitments and we need time to refresh our creative juices.  Either way, it can be a struggle to find ourselves creatively again. Shevaun Doherty has just written a brilliant blog post about this, and the pointers given in it will certainly help many an artist.

During one of my enforced breaks, I had the opportunity to play around with some wood.  I have always loved the look of wooden boxes filled with pans of paint.  I know many of them are very old and artists have had them for some time.  The more modern versions come with a full set of paints (which I certainly don't need !) and can be rather expensive.

So my thinking cap became very active and I tracked down a company that sold plywood boxes for under £5.  I eventually found one the right size and after a few days I started to adapt it.

The dimensions of the box are: 

EXTERNAL - 27 X 16 X 4 CM

INTERNAL - 26 x 14.5 x 2.4 CM (lower part of the box) Lid inside is 1.7cm deep

 

 

 

Prior to varnishing I cut down some lengths of wooden beading to fit inside the box and glued these in with wood glue.

To work out the right measurement between divisions, I used several of the half-pans.

Once these were dry I set to and varnished the box, inside and out with an oak coloured varnish.

 

 

 

Because the pans sat too low in the box, I used some strips of foam board to make them higher and also glued these in.  The pans are held in place by a small piece of double-sided tape on the base of each.  The space at the top is to hold brushes.

Because of the depth of the lid, there is also room to store a small plastic foldaway palette.

 

I've still got my six key colours in this palette, but it has also given me room to add a line of handy opaque watercolours and some of my favourite Daniel Smith paints.

 

 

Another box adapted.  This one also came with the wooden divisions.  Once varnished, I lined it with some material and it is perfect for storing my tubes in.

 

 

Another box (the same size as the palette box), useful for those bits and pieces !

 

 

Half way through my painting break I received some exciting news.  Five of my paintings have been accepted by the Society of Botanical Artists, and four of them will be hung at their forthcoming London exhibition in May entitled the Botanical Garden.  The exhibition is taking place at Central Hall in Westminster, opposite Westminster Abbey.  If you get the chance to go there will be many botanical art paintings to see, along with a lovely shop to purchase cards, books etc.

 

 

Botanical Garden by Angeline de Meester (c) 2014