Plein Air Painting Materials

The clouds were AMAZING.

I had a little time, I had a painting surface prepped and ready to go, so I drove around until I found a safe spot well off the road.  I'm ALL excited and a little bit nervous (starting something new can cause nervousness!)   

I got my painting gear out and "OH NO."  I had everything I needed - except a palette.  

Argh!!!!  

I could have gone back home to get it, but it's a 20 minute round trip. That takes time out of my painting, plus I could lose the clouds or maybe worse - I could lose the momentum.  I looked around my car - maybe there was something I could use instead??  

Sure enough I found a cardboard box I needed to recycle.  As Tim Gunn says, "Make it work!"  I tore a palette sized piece off the box and put paint out on that. The cardboard absorbed a lot of the oil in the paint, so I had to paint a bit more thickly than I usually do, but I got to explore these clouds and make a painting!  Not my best work ever, but the act of painting itself counts as success. Painting is a practice, after all. 

Thunderclouds, 2014 

Hopefully you will avoid this mistake, but if you do forget something important, you are not alone!  It happens to everyone and the experience helps you to remember your stuff next time. 

If you are new to plein air painting, you're going to be thinking about what supplies you will need.  And for most people, you are feeling a bit nervous, and don't want to deal with forgotten or awkward gear when you're also going to be dealing with weather and looky-loos.  If your first plein air experience is a group paint out and you might not want to look like a total newbie.  All these things are unique stimuli in plein air work.  So, getting your gear organized is important! 

Organizing your gear is going to involve trial and error as well.  Every artist has different circumstances, different mediums, different size preference, different budgets, different ability to carry gear, to handle heat and cold and wind and sun and bugs.  Some of us willingly pee outdoors, some of us would never.  I tend toward painting in remote areas these days, so I need to bring some safety items, like a a first aid kit.  But some folks will want to stick to parks with good bathrooms, and that's ok! 

Keeping in mind that every artist is different, I created a Plein Air Painting Materials and Supplies Guide for you.  There are things you might not have thought of, and stuff you may never want to include!   But it's very helpful if you're rusty or just getting started.  

Download your guide HERE.