Plein Air Essentials for Watercolor Painters!

I paint en plein air often and teach classes and workshops, and my new students often ask me what gear they need to come join me on these excursions. I first started painting outdoors back in the early eighties, when I worked as a State Game Warden in the Florida Everglades. Back then, I kept a small box with my painting supplies in the back of my truck so I could sketch and paint the landscape around me.

Later, when I lived in California I organized some artist friends to join me on weekends to paint the breathtaking scenery of the valleys and coastlines. Back then, we called it painting outside or paint outs -- "plein air" was not used as a noun until recent years.

The supplies I carry with me haven't changed much over the decades. Paint, brushes, and water are the essentials. I prefer pan watercolors and I keep a penknife, pencil, eraser, sandpaper, salt, and travel brushes with the folding palette. The travel brushes have self-storing handles that protect the brush when not in use. I like to use a watercolor easel such as this one, but when I was younger I would just sit on the ground and hold my painting on my lap as I worked.

I show a selection of water containers in this photo, and they all have one thing in common -- they collapse. The dog bowl holds enough water to paint a larger painting, or the smaller camping cup can can be tucked in a bag with a sketchbook to be handy for impromptu sessions. The red rectangle in this photo is a value finder. Looking through it helps artists to see values, and both in their subject and in their painting.

The right paper is a major component of painting. I like a small sketchbook such as this spiral bound one from Hahnemuehle for sketching on the go and small studies. For full size plein air paintings, I use 140 paper mounted in block form, such as this 12x16 block of Cezanne paper from Hahnemuehle.

Annie Strack teaching plein air painting in Spain

More new paintings, again!

December is getting off to the busy start, with classes filling up and lots of new bookings for workshops and demos. Still, I've managed to find a little time to paint for myself, in between the myriad of holiday parties and travel. I just finished this watercolor painting of dinghies, from a reference photo I took on one of my recent trips to St. John. I love the water in the Caribbean -- it's as warm and inviting as it looks! I'll be entering this painting in competitions this year, and hopefully the judges will like it as much as I.

Destiny Awaits, 14x20 watercolor

This floral is a demo from one of my classes in my studio. I have several stems of silk flowers and an assortment of vases, and every now and then I arrange them for a still-life painting exercise for my students. It's a wonderful break from painting from photographs, and I can rearrange the flowers and lighting to give my students some different experiences in colors, compositions, designs, and values. This one is on Arches rough paper, and painted with my Mission pan watercolors. I used squirrel mop bushes, which combined with the rough paper helps to give it a looser feel.

Floral Demo with Mission Watercolors

Last week, I drove down to Rehoboth Beach for the Delaware Watercolor Society's holiday party. They gave all the artists a cute little apron with their logo on it, and the Signature Members received an additional gift of a lovely tote bag. I'm always toting bags of stuff around, so a new tote bag always comes in handy!

Signature Member gifts from the Delaware Watercolor Society

More new paintings and demos from Plein Air Brandywine Valley festival!

The last couple of weeks I've been busy with the Plein Air Brandywine Valley festival. The event kicked off with a reception for the artists at the Marshallton Inn, where everyone received their welcome packets with the event schedule and artist info, and swag bags full of wonderful goodies donated by our generous sponsors. Artists started painting the very next morning and continued for four days. We started the week off by painting at farms and estates in the Greenville, Delaware area on Monday, then Marshallton, Pennsylvania on Tuesday (including a Quick Draw event!), then Chesapeake City, Maryland on Wednesday (followed by a Nocturne painting event), and finished up back in Delaware on Thursday. On Friday, we hung the show at Winterthur and the paintings were judged by Steve Doherty, editor of Plein Air Magazine and prizes were awarded during a gala reception. 

I demonstrated landscape painting using Mission Gold Watercolors provided by Martin F. Weber Fine Art Products on both Saturday and Sunday for visitors enjoying the exhibit at Winterthur.  

Painting away in Chesapeake City. Busy Bridge, 5x7 watercolor on canvas, SOLD. 

I finished 8 paintings during the event, and sold 3 of them before the paint was dry. 

Me, with Steve Doherty after the judging. As one of the event organizers, my paintings were not included in the judging, but I did get to participate in all the events and sold several paintings! 

New Paintings, Upcoming events, and lightfingered artists

Last weekend I demonstrated plein air painting at Marshall Square park in West Chester to promote the upcoming Plein Air Brandywine Valley. I painted two paintings of the fountain, one in oils and one in watercolor - using my new palette of watercolor pans from Mission Gold. The travel set of Mission Gold watercolors was a gift from the Weber company, who generously gave me samples to give out to all the artists who registered for Plein Air Brandywine Valley and also to all the artists who attended my demo for the Philadelphia Watercolor Society. 

They also gave me a set of paints to use during my demo, but another artist intercepted my box of samples when it arrived at the PWCS event and took everything, including my set of paints. She boldly announced that she was the one who got the samples for all the PWCS members, and then began handing out my samples to the audience. She even generously offered to give two of my samples to me! I was so flabbergasted by her outrageous behavior that I couldn't find the words, and I walked away. Not to worry, as I work with the Weber company on many projects and they sent me another set in the mail a few days later. It arrived in time for me to use in this demo and also the one I did for Jerry's Artarama last Friday. 

Marshall Square Park Fountain, 8x10 oil, SOLD

 Both paintings were sold off my easel before they were finished.

Marshall Square Park Fountain, 9x12 watercolor, SOLD

 Tomorrow night, I'll be at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia for the opening of the Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Juried Show. I'm thrilled to be juried in this show, which had over 5,000 entries!

 Saturday, I'll be demonstrating plein air painting at Winterthur, beginning at 9am. If you're in the area, be sure to stop in and check it out! I'll be right near the main entrance of the museum, so you won't have to go far to find me.

Next weekend, I'll be demonstrating acrylic painting with Amsterdam Acrylics and conducting "make n take" classes at the Plaza Art Store in Towson, Maryland. This is the store's annual Hands On Creativity event, which features over a dozen different art supply companies and manufacturers displaying new products, offering free demos, and giving away samples. You won't want to miss this awesome event!