BY LESLIE REGO
Recently I have been hiking, stopping from time to time and drawing little thumbnail sketches. If I take a camera and shoot photographs during the entire hike, I am recording everything. But if I stop and create a thumbnail sketch, I have to pick and choose what I feel is the most important. I like to use them to collect motifs from a given area. When I have many thumbnails, all from the same trail, I have an entire story of the trail.
To create a thumbnail, I focus on interesting views, beautiful configurations of trees, little brooks or rivulets. Generally, the sketches are 2 inches by 3 inches, or slightly larger. Since I sketch the small pieces so quickly, I can stop frequently. While sketching the thumbnail, I might move a tree or a bush a bit more to one side or the other to improve the overall image. Or maybe I draw the tree taller or lower. I like to pinpoint patterns and shapes that are particular to the area. I also look at light and how it flows over the scenes. I concentrate on motifs that are specific to the terrain. By the end of the hike, I have a selection of thumbnails depicting small scenes that are very typical for the area.
I try to jot down a few words next to my thumbnail: the time of day, sunny or misty, warm or cold. I also write down what I liked about the scene. What was the first thing that drew my attention? What was my initial feeling? Why was I attracted to stop and quickly scribble down the major shapes?
I like thumbnail sketches because they serve as a memory bank. I can make note of ideas, sights and features quintessential to the area. I might describe the scene with a low horizon or a high horizon. Changing the amount of sky that is showing at any time during the hike completely changes the perception of the scenery. These are scenarios one might not think of while hiking.
Artists typically use thumbnails to help establish the structure of a painting or to visualize the final painting. I think of my thumbnails as establishing the “structure” of the hike. They pull out the recurring themes which happen along the trail.
Creating thumbnails is best to do when you are alone because it requires stopping frequently, for a few minutes each stop. But by the end of the hike you have a record of your feelings as well as what caught your interest.
Leslie Rego is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, artist and Blaine County resident. To view more of Rego’s art, visit www.leslierego.com.