Just two sketchbook hoboes, off to see America

January 28, 2024 6:24 AM

Way back in 1980, friends and fellow art school students James Gurney (previously) and Thomas Kincade (previously) hopped a freight train together, sketchbooks at the ready. Gurney has also posted audio about the trip, as well as a recent Substack post. The two published a now somewhat rare book on their journey that has not been reprinted [Archive]. As has been mentioned before on the blue, the two also collaborated on the 1983 film Fire & Ice, notable for its rotoscoping and the collaboration of Ralph Bakshi with Frank Frazetta.
posted by cupcakeninja (10 comments total)

My favorite artist and my least favorite artist.
posted by chronkite at 7:55 AM on January 28 [6 favorites]

Love that story, also the aside that people didn't believe Kinkade could have ridden the rails like a hobo when that was mentioned in his obituary.
posted by chavenet at 8:23 AM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Yes, the first time I heard that, I did at least a double-take, maybe a triple-take. It has been interesting to see how the "wandering artist" ethos has been a constant thread in Gurney's work, from plein air experiments with different media to his exploration of how to capture various aspects of nature, in ways that are nerdily captivating to me. His art technique books are full of good stuff, in ways that echo the instruction of his aesthetic forebears from Norman Rockwell to the best of Academic practice.
posted by cupcakeninja at 9:10 AM on January 28 [3 favorites]

From following the links I find that Gurney was a master as sketching and painting from life. Now those are awesome skills. Also,

We got short haircuts and we packed our backpacks with sketchbooks, markers, corncob pipes, felt hats, uniform shirts, and a Tupperware full of a mixture of peanut butter and honey. We were inspired by the writers Charles Kuralt and John Steinbeck, and we wanted to do the same thing with art.

Until I read We got short haircuts part, I was going all What the hey!? looking at the pictures of them. Those ahistorical haircuts are so out of time.
posted by y2karl at 10:13 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]

Given how extremely dangerous it is to hop freight cars, wow, we were almost spared Thomas Kinkade's work.
posted by JanetLand at 1:34 PM on January 28 [1 favorite]

Short hair was not ahistorical or out of time in 1980. You may have heard of a little known youth movement called punk rock. A lot of those folks had short hair. Perhaps you're mistaking your particular youth culture with all time appropriate youth cultures.
posted by evilDoug at 4:22 PM on January 28

Well, duh. But did you look at Gurney and Kinkade's hair in the blog link in my comment? They went to a salon to get that oh so styled look. Those guys were so not hipster bohemians.
posted by y2karl at 5:36 PM on January 28

Speaking as someone who had a lot of crummy 80s haircuts: those look like standard, white person $8 short haircuts of the day. Medium/medium long hair looked something like Robert Hays in Angie and shorter was just a scaled down version of that. Anything shorter than the blog photo would've been punk rock.
posted by brachiopod at 11:17 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

Their hair.

That’s what people care about.

Their hair.
posted by chronkite at 8:57 AM on January 29

Well, Thomas Kinkade was mentioned. Between his art and his haircut, which is more morally redeemable?
posted by y2karl at 5:23 PM on February 2