what to take when sketching plein air (1 ) .... oils

What to take when you go sketching plein air?

what materials? what equipment? what medium? - oils? watercolour? pastel? acrylic? coloured pencil? pencil? what size paper/canvas/sketchbook? what to sit on?

Warm Day, April, Wells next the Sea, oil, plein air, approx 10 ins square Vivien Blackburn (old work)

what and why? that's like 'how long is a piece of string' - one person's perfect kit isn't going to be right for another. All I can say is what is right for me.

I use virtually any and all media sketching. What I take depends on

• whether it's a family outing
• a trip specifically to sketch with friends
• sketching alone
• how long I have there to paint/sketch
• how far from the car I have to walk carrying equipment and materials
• the weather
  

If with family then what I take is lightweight and limited, and may be simply a moleskine or other sketch book and a mechanical pencil or biro.

If with friends then it's kitchen sink time! I would take in the car: my oils, coloured pencils, some oil pastels for mixed media, watercolours, charcoal, pencil and a variety of sketchbooks/papers in all sorts of sizes and paper types. I also like a variety of colours - I often work with a limited palette - but I want to choose which colours for individual paintings in front of the landscape - not one-set-does-all, chosen in advance. I hate it when I've cut back on something - watercolours or oils - and I haven't taken them.

If I have to walk far carrying materials then it will affect what I take and I'll select from the stuff in the car. If we plan to stay all day then I may be prepared to carry quite a lot - if it's only a short trip then maybe I'd cut back.

What medium I use when I get there depends on subject, light and weather. I'll look at the different media I use in a series of posts, starting with -

Oil paints:

Recent sketches in Cornwall really reinforced my love of oils as a preferred medium for catching colour and movement quickly and fast. I don't draw first but just go in with colour. For me this is definitely the quickest medium and enables me to work larger.

Working plein air in oils

Plein air I use Griffin Alkyds, quick drying oils, that have all the properties of traditional oils but have the advantage of all colours in the range drying overnight.

Equipment: I've recently stopped carrying turps. I simply take a bottle of Liquin for thinning paint if needed and a bottle of baby oil for cleaning up - brushes and me.

I put my paints into a box file along with a few brushes, a painting knife and a colour shaper .

Then all I need is a disposable palette or some paper plates, a very small container for some liquin to be tipped into and rags.

The box file opens wide and means I can scrabble through the tubes to find the one I want without losing any (hopefully). It fits easily in a wheely bag (one of those overnight cases with wheels and towing handle), rucksack or largish shoulder bag - the choice of bag depends on the terrain/how far from the car.

Support: To paint on, either a Cryla pad of acrylic paper or canvas. As I don't trowel paint on I'm able to turn pages in the Cryla pad to work on the next sheet without any damage to the previous painting, They are kept clean (and don't stick) until I get home and can spread them out to finish drying. I would only use a canvas if working near the car and then I might use an easel. Normally I just hold whatever I'm working on.

Sketchbooks: I'll also use oils in sketchbooks - the oil doesn't soak through to the next page and I can shut the book on the sketch without harming it. Though I do get a ghost print on the facing page :>) So my Canson hard back watercolour book has watercolour on one page and an oil on the next and a drawing on the next.

A drawing board can be useful if you are near the car, as you can use bulldog clips to attach your palette and paper to it.

If I'm painting at the beach and know I'll be there for hours then I'd use a little tent that my friends and I all have - those half igloo fishermen ones. It gives me shade, a groundsheet to sit on, gives me somewhere to throw bags, drinks and sandwiches and stuff to keep them together, and is a shelter if it rains. It also means people can't stand behind you and look over your shoulder! They fold up small and are quick and easy to put up - unless it's a day like the one below. I ended up working in a tiny 6 inch sketchbook that day as, due to the gale blowing straight off the sea, I couldn't hold anything larger still.

Stormy Day, oil in 6 inch sketch book, plein air, Vivien Blackburn

I find that baby oil is great for taking out to clean up. Brushes are easily cleaned between colours or when packing up and if I - as I often do - get paint on my jeans, the baby oil will get it out and clean up my hands as well. At home I clean brushes with the cheapest cooking oil. It's environmentally friendly and smells less :>)

I hate wearing hats but do find that a sunhat both protects my face from burning and also the shade makes colours much easier to see accurately.

Easels and chairs are optional and not at all essential. I rarely use them plein air.

In future posts I'll look at the other media I use - watercolours, coloured pencils, charcoal, pencil ... all sorts!


What do you prefer to use?

Links to some of my plein air work

(These 2 paintings are old ones of the North Norfolk coast).