Whether you camp in a huge RV, a tiny travel trailer, a tent or just out under the stars, there’s nothing like leaving your cares behind and settling into a different, slower and more natural rhythm. Exploring the area, sitting by a campfire at night, cooking over the coals, sleeping surrounded by the sounds of the wind in the trees or owls on the hunt—it all puts us in touch with an older, simpler part of our nature. And as has been noted, humans are the only animals who use fire—to cook, to give us comfort, to harden our pottery, to let us dream, to drive back the darkness. It speaks to us.
Camping in a tent is becoming relatively rare as more and more people opt for RVs and travel trailers. Still, almost any large campground will offer tents in a variety of shapes and styles, from a simple wedge-shaped pup tent to a geodesic dome to a marvelous construction with a couple of rooms, including a screened “porch”!
There’s something magical about camping in a tent, with only a thin layer of fabric between you and the night and the weather. It’s both atavistic and intimate—you’re aware of changes in the weather in ways you never are under more emphatic cover.
When you walk through the campground at night as people are preparing to turn in, flashlights and other light sources inside the tents make the structures glow like huge Chinese lanterns. It’s an enchanting sight.
This is the first layer in a little sketch of fire against a New York sunset. I was waiting for my love when I noticed the lovely, simple scene and held it in my memory till I could get back to camp and paint it in my journal.
I sketched my love’s little home-built teardrop trailer in my journal one summer when we camped in the Adirondacks at a gathering of teardrop owners. It was a lovely shelter, with a delightful cross-breeze, shade and the whisper of rain on the aluminum roof.
CAMPFIRE AT FISH CREEK
Watercolor on Cartiera Magnani cold-pressed watercolor paper
7" × 4" (18cm × 10cm)
If you’re not satisfied with your first effort, analyze what you didn’t seem to capture and try again, either directly on the original or on another sheet of paper. Initially, this sketch was too pale and wimpy, and didn’t catch the drama. Months later, I could still see those dark trees and the glow of the fire in my mind’s eye, so I went back and darkened it considerably.
I lifted back the smoke with a dampened bristle brush and blotted the loosened pigment with a tissue, then added a bit of sparkle and life with colored pencils to suggest the warm light on the trees.
From the classic wedge shape to the more complicated models with internal or external frames, the basic technology is the same. Just a layer of fabric between you and the great outdoors. Try sketching the various shapes you find.
If there’s a campground near where you live or vacation, you can often find any number of subjects. I liked the shape of this large tent—almost like a canvas “house.”