Speaking of Art Blog

Let me start this blog by clearing the air. I am not a plein air enthusiast. There, I said it. With plein air painting being all the rage these days (meaning painting outside with all the bugs and changing light and unpredictable weather conditions), when given a choice I much prefer my home studio (with controlled lighting, no bugs, and air temp under my control). Yes, I have tried plein air painting a few times with excellent instructors like Mark Vander Vinne (www.vandervinnestudio.com) and Michael Chesley Johnson (www.michaelchesleyjohnson.com). They don’t come any better than those two guys, folks, and I can’t complain about the weather conditions on either occasion. Picture perfect days both workshops. But sorry, Mark and Michael, I’m still not jumping up and down about plein air painting. Not my cup of tea.

BUT, I have discovered recently that even though I don’t want to plein air it, I am finding great value in owning and using a whole array of plein air gear when I’m away from my studio. Plein air equipment is made to be used away from home, and since I’m doing a lot more demos for my pastel students at the Chesterton Art Center these days, packing and using my plein air gear is a snap. Part or all of the gear is also a must when I attend an art workshop or take lessons where I have to bring my own art supplies.

So, here is what I own and take with me to use while I’m on the road:

1)   Sun-Eden Plein Air Package easel and tripod: This is the same easel/tripod package the late great Maggie Price used to use. In fact, Maggie recommended this package to me years ago when I was in the market for a portable easel package. I’ve owned and used mine for a few years now, and I’m very glad I invested in it. The traveling adapter can be adjusted to tilt straight up and down, or at any angle, or even horizontally for wet media. There are a bunch of nifty features, including a telescoping center pole on the tripod that can be adjusted with a smooth gliding manual crank, and there’s even a built in level! The tripod is sturdy and well made, opens and closes quickly, and stores in a cloth bag that has a shoulder strap. It comes with little stakes for planting the tripod legs firmly in the ground on a windy day. The shelf that attaches to the front two legs perfectly supports my pastel carrier box, and its legs fold flat against the back of the shelf when stored. Purchases can be made directly from the Sun-Eden company, www.sun-eden.com. 

Years ago Maggie Price gave me a travel tip concerning this setup: Don’t break down the long, white traveling adapter when packing up every time, only when air traveling. It will stick up out of the cloth bag by about an inch when it’s not taken apart, but who cares when you’re not traveling by plane? Great time saver to leave it as one piece with the top and bottom bars turned and tightened vertically.

2)     Guerrilla Painter Pastel Carrier, sold by Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff (and other online places, but Cheap Joe’s had the best deal): This is my newest purchase and so far so good. What do I like about it? It is super lightweight with four sturdy plastic bins inside the wooden box, it protects and secures my pastel pieces during transport with thick, soft foam that lines each bin and its cover, I can pick up a bin very easily by using the two hole openings in the center of each bin, and each bin section holds a lot more pastels than I expected! 

One certainly does not need whole pastel sticks when on the road. Bits and pieces will do. Years ago I fashioned my own homemade pastel carrier by using a general purpose art supply kit that opened flat and that I lined with foam. It was OK, but became inadequate size wise and pastel protection wise. So when I purchased my Guerrilla Carrier, I simply transferred all my portable pastel bits and pieces into my new carrier, and I had plenty of room to add more pastels after the transfer. I even left one whole section of a bin empty for storing the colors I use for any one particular painting. That way I’m not searching for the same color when I return home and want to finish a painting I’ve already started at another location.

4)     A few extras:

Bungee cords – I have two flat strap bungee cords with hooks, which I purchased at a local hardware store. One can go across the middle of my opened pastel carrier box, loop underneath the shelf, and then hook back on the middle pole of the tripod where it started. The other bungee can hook onto a middle crossbar of the tripod and then the other end can hook onto the handle of my trundle, which I position under my easel so that it can serve as a weight for my whole setup. (I know, I don’t DO plein air, but I’ve seen whole easel setups fall over when accidentally bumped INDOORS in a cramped workshop setting. So, why not use the bungee cords indoors as well?)

Sun-Eden Side Mount Accessory Box, attached to shelf – This box is for my pastel and charcoal pencils. It’s supposed to attach to the side of the shelf, but with my Guerrilla Pastel Carrier extending beyond both sides of my shelf, that wouldn’t have worked for me. No problem, because you actually attach the sticky back clips yourself to the underside of the shelf anywhere you want. The clips along with two dowels hold the box in place very securely, and the dowels slide out of sight inside the clips when packed away.

Foam core board (~12x15”) and tracing paper (glassine) pad (11x14”) – These two items are for my art surfaces. I secure my pastel paper to a piece of foam core board with flat clips. Artist’s tape works too. That becomes my working surface. When packing up, I can either cover up my surface with a piece of tracing paper using the clips and then slide the board into a plastic bag, or I can take my paper off the board and slide it into my tracing paper pad between two sheets of tracing paper, and secure the open end of the pad with a giant rubber band. Extra pieces of pastel paper are stored in the pad also, each between separate sheets of tracing paper.

Camp stool – purchased at Cabela's. Comes with a little cloth bag that has a shoulder strap, very compact when stored in the bag. I’ve only used this when I participated in my two actual plein air workshops, but it was invaluable both of those times. It’s not necessarily super comfortable, but practical for, obviously, sitting on when you’re away from any other chair. It’s also useful as another (semi) flat surface for temporarily setting things on while packing up.

Other miscellaneous items: small sketch pad for thumbnail sketches, rag, wipes, color wheel, viewfinder, paintbrush, ruler, apron, garbage bag, paper towels, pencil sharpener, eraser.