Newbie Dreaming of a Mobile Studio
- Thread starter amy0002
- Start date
Help Support Van Living Forum:
cyndi
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
- Messages
- 5,731
- Reaction score
- 16
Ashley! Welcome to the CRVL forums! we;ve got at least a couple of artists on the forum. And I know of even more, living a mobile life. The inspriation is definitely out there
To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.
To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.
eDJ_
Well-known member
Welcome to the CRVL Forums, 
Yes it can be easily done and I've known several who have done it. I once ran a small Sign biz out of one of my Vans. Then the guy who taught me to hand letter had worked his way from coast to coast with a metal lunch box with a few cans of paint, small bottle of paint thinner and his quill's (brushes). He traveled on food or bought bus tickets to get from point to point west of the Mississippi river. He would go down country lanes lettering people's mail boxes with their names in script for $5 bucks a pop and in a few hours have $50 dollars to eat and travel on. But he would letter doors of trucks, windows of stores etc and have plenty of money.
His lunch box looked about like this one,
He had "SIGNS" painted on one side in a Circus Carnival looking style and on the other side his name in fancy Script lettering. Those were the two samples of his work he would show people. But he could letter in about any "type" anyone wanted.
What type of art do you specialize in?
Yes it can be easily done and I've known several who have done it. I once ran a small Sign biz out of one of my Vans. Then the guy who taught me to hand letter had worked his way from coast to coast with a metal lunch box with a few cans of paint, small bottle of paint thinner and his quill's (brushes). He traveled on food or bought bus tickets to get from point to point west of the Mississippi river. He would go down country lanes lettering people's mail boxes with their names in script for $5 bucks a pop and in a few hours have $50 dollars to eat and travel on. But he would letter doors of trucks, windows of stores etc and have plenty of money.
His lunch box looked about like this one,
He had "SIGNS" painted on one side in a Circus Carnival looking style and on the other side his name in fancy Script lettering. Those were the two samples of his work he would show people. But he could letter in about any "type" anyone wanted.
What type of art do you specialize in?
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.
eDJ, I'm a photographer. printer and bookmaker. That story of your mentor is super cool! I actually worked in the sign biz too in between Undergrad and Grad school.
Queen Thanks for the appreciation! I adore being appreciated although I'm thinking of supplementing income while on the road through a more logical route... bookkeeping along with doing all of the above of course.
eDJ, I'm a photographer. printer and bookmaker. That story of your mentor is super cool! I actually worked in the sign biz too in between Undergrad and Grad school.
Queen Thanks for the appreciation! I adore being appreciated although I'm thinking of supplementing income while on the road through a more logical route... bookkeeping
along with doing all of the above of course.
eDJ_
Well-known member
Amy, I worked with a photographer in a Design Lab where we worked with large packaging systems. Our Dark room had a huge process camera built into one wall on a 110 inch track (where it could extend out and back).
This was used for producing 4 ft by 4 ft film positives for the silk screens we used to produce graphics for the packaging. We could stand in it and set up the camera for enlarging the "art sample". I was an Industrial Designer.
Our Photographer was quite interested in my Van at the time. I had explained to him how I could move from division to division in the Corp in the Van packing it up over night and being on my way to my next assignment. (this is how I got into the Van scene. I had used my Van as scene below in my first website link earlier for weekend camping and long day trips, but learned to adapt it to my traveling work. So as I was showing my set up to the photographer, He was seeing an adaptation of the big process camera. Making it a rolling camera for doing large landscape photos. He said 8" x 1o" view cameras were the most he had owned to work with and was wondering about adapting one to one of the windows in the rear doors. (if you can imagine this) He brought one to work one day and I let him measure the window to see if he thought it could work. His was built from a kit offered by Bender camera kits back then.
But since I've done a lot of photo silk screening using the techniques he taught me for poster size boards.
Just wanted to pass along the idea to you. You may see sunrises & sunsets, and other landscapes you'd like to photo in large format. Use your rig like a Camera. Who knows if you set it up as a small licensed business, you could write off a new rig using it like this. (or write off your fuel you use in your travels) ;-)
This was used for producing 4 ft by 4 ft film positives for the silk screens we used to produce graphics for the packaging. We could stand in it and set up the camera for enlarging the "art sample". I was an Industrial Designer.
Our Photographer was quite interested in my Van at the time. I had explained to him how I could move from division to division in the Corp in the Van packing it up over night and being on my way to my next assignment. (this is how I got into the Van scene. I had used my Van as scene below in my first website link earlier for weekend camping and long day trips, but learned to adapt it to my traveling work. So as I was showing my set up to the photographer, He was seeing an adaptation of the big process camera. Making it a rolling camera for doing large landscape photos. He said 8" x 1o" view cameras were the most he had owned to work with and was wondering about adapting one to one of the windows in the rear doors. (if you can imagine this) He brought one to work one day and I let him measure the window to see if he thought it could work. His was built from a kit offered by Bender camera kits back then.
But since I've done a lot of photo silk screening using the techniques he taught me for poster size boards.
Just wanted to pass along the idea to you. You may see sunrises & sunsets, and other landscapes you'd like to photo in large format. Use your rig like a Camera. Who knows if you set it up as a small licensed business, you could write off a new rig using it like this. (or write off your fuel you use in your travels) ;-)
eDJ_ said:
This is exactly what I was thinking writing off the payments and most of the gas as business expenses. And having a dog hair free studio/not having to paying hotel fees when traveling to sell at art shows...
The large format camera idea is ingenius! I am going to make that happen.
eDJ_
Well-known member
Do you have your Private Messages turned on so that you can receive messages ? I can provide you some info if you do.
Richard
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 3, 2016
- Messages
- 274
- Reaction score
- 2
eDJ_ said:
This comment reminded me of Ian Ruhter's "Silver and Light" endeavor. He converted a box van into a wet-plate camera.
I'm not suggesting anything like this for Ashley, just sharing it because I thought it was a neat idea. If you'd like to learn more about him and his box van camera, here's a 2-minute video introducing both:
For a longer video (24-minutes), this one covers a lot of ground:
Here's a quick blurb and a 9-minute video (I think this one may be a subset of the 24-minute video linked above; still watching)
http://www.12ozprophet.com/news/12oz-silver_and_light-the-box-truck-camera/
Enjoy!
videomagic
Member
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2017
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 0
amy0002 said:
Welcome Ashley, hope you are able to put your plan into gear. I, like you and others hope to be able to get out on the road and enjoy some of the sites the country has to offer before I drop dead. Good luck to you and wishing you all the best. Rock on girl!!
eDJ_
Well-known member
Check your message inbox. You got mail.
Kathleen
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2016
- Messages
- 483
- Reaction score
- 0
Amy,
Here's a good size cargo trailer for sale used for 2 years by another artist. On CL, been there a while. If still for sale should go down in price.
Part of my career was in the fashion industry. I still love clothing so I jumped when I saw the long clothing rack at one end of the trailer.
This lady artist opened the big door on her trailer to do her work in scenic locations. Probably a painter. It's located in Sedona, AZ.
https://santafe.craigslist.org/tro/6146790603.html
Here's a good size cargo trailer for sale used for 2 years by another artist. On CL, been there a while. If still for sale should go down in price.
Part of my career was in the fashion industry. I still love clothing so I jumped when I saw the long clothing rack at one end of the trailer.
This lady artist opened the big door on her trailer to do her work in scenic locations. Probably a painter. It's located in Sedona, AZ.
https://santafe.craigslist.org/tro/6146790603.html
