Finding the Area
Two matters will guide your choice of budge travel
destination: what will sell, and the costs of the
painting expeditions needed to get the material.
Reputations are not created overnight, and painters
usually specialize, becoming well known for their
scenes of Italian life, the lonely splendor of the
Rockies, the picturesque hamlets of Cornish coast,
etc. The settings are chosen carefully, to exploit
and cautiously extend an existing market. Viewed
purely as paintings, the local industrial plant
may provide the more interesting challenges, but
folk rarely hang such pieces in their living rooms,
and opportunities here are usually limited to commissions
from the companies concerned. Subject matter is
important, and gallery owners in particular develop
a keen eye for openings. You should take their advice.
You may have fallen in love with that unspoiled
part of Corsica, but that is of no interest whatever
to the average picture purchaser. Joe public has
never been to Corsica and the scenes of winding
roads and little villages tucked into forested hills
could be of anywhere. Try Greece or Venice, but
paint them in a really distinctive way.
Developing an eye for what makes a good picture
takes time, and is what contributors touring the
local art show talk about. What have their colleagues
noticed that they have missed? Spotting opportunities
becomes even more difficult in unfamiliar settings,
and you'd be well advised to think carefully before
setting out. Maps and guides should allow you to
visualize the landscape. Exhibitions, catalogues,
books and the Internet show what is selling, and
it is in these categories that your work will have
to be placed. Will the new area allow that? Check
again with photographs in guide books and holiday
brochures, or pay a short visit to the area first.
Value for Money: Budget Travel
Having found the area or areas of possible interest,
the task switches to finding the best rates for
travel and accommodation. The local travel company
can advise, but better rates for budget travel are
to be found on the Internet, particularly if you
can be flexible on hours of departure and time of
the year. Some places are expensive all year round,
though even here there may be bargains in neighboring
areas out of season. You'll have to balance the
time lost in traveling against the extra cost of
staying at the ideal location. Some places are only
practicable at holiday times, and artists have to
put up with high prices and unwelcome attention.
Again, plan each day carefully, with alternatives
should the weather turn bad, or a bus strike freeze
local transport.
Above all, have the essentials in place before
setting out. A cheap, comfortable hotel that understands
the object of your stay, and that can organize a
car and pack sandwiches if necessary. Laden down
with painting gear, you do not want to be haggling
with local hoteliers for the best rates, or trying
in a foreign tongue to find the bus that may or
may not be going to your destination. Everyone supposes
that they know better than travel industry professionals,
but a little research destroys that illusion. All
hotels have unused accommodation, and there exists
(as anyone who has worked in the industry will attest)
a complex chain of deals to ensure that the rooms
are filled by any means possible. Likewise empty
airline seats. Cut yourself a good deal by getting
to know what already exists.
Planning
Even when they've secured their budget holiday
package, possibly at less than half the going rate,
painters still need to make every moment count.
There is no time for long trips into neighboring
cities to buy what has been overlooked, and in many
cases no art stores anyway. Seasoned painters check
beforehand — taking a weekend painting trip
if necessary — that all equipment is in good
working order. That canvases or fiberboard panels
can be easily transported and packed when wet. That
a lightweight second easel is packed. That they
have sufficient paper for sketches, and a good range
of paints if they're painting extensively on the
spot. Most particularly, the camera should be a
trusted model they're thoroughly familiar with,
and which comes with a spare body and a range of
lenses. Obvious precautions, but sometimes overlooked
in the excitement of new fields to conquer.
Illustration
'Te Reroia' by Paul Gauguin.
1897. Courtauld Institute Galleries. London. Colors
rather muddy but with more variety than first appears.
Gray-browns and grey greens used to model flesh
tones.
