Preparation is key when packing for plein air excursions. Just like backpacking, every ounce counts. These are some tips to consider when deciding what to bring or leave in the studio:

• Take only the colors you need. Consider the time of year and the location you are planning on visiting when thinking about your palette. This may mean just 6 small tubes of paint, or a dozen half-stick pastels. Fewer and smaller brushes is also a helpful option.
• One of the the most satisfactory packing methods is to put your paint box with its contents wrapped in a plastic bag in a suitcase checked through to your destination. Include a note labeling them as “artist’s colors, non-flammable” (never use the word paint). On the other hand, the Wet Painting Carrier can work well as a carry on item (you don’t want to take the chance of losing your paintings in checked luggage). If you’re driving or taking the train, small amounts of turpentine/mineral spirits can be stored in tightly sealed unbreakable containers to prevent spills. Of course, if you’re flying, solvents are not allowed, so you will have to get them after you arrive at your destination.
• Take panels instead of stretched canvases.
• Paper Towels are always a good idea; you can cut the roll in half to reduce size/weight!
• When looking for other art supplies, travel sized/travel friendly options are always your best bet. Perhaps sample sizes are available.
• Don’t forget sunscreen, bug repellent, water, snacks, and a hat.

Once you arrive at your destination, how will you carry your supplies? Pochade boxes and plein air easels (French, Soltek, etc.) are specially made to hold your art supplies inside them, and are great ways to limit what you take with you in the field. Otherwise a small bag or tackle box can do the trick. If you are hiking into the field, or even just down the street, you should be able to carry everything comfortably in one trip. This could be a comfortable backpack, shoulder bag, cart, or any combination.

Every artist has their own particular way of doing things. Try out different options and see what works best for you. Sometimes a sketchbook and some watercolors will be all you need (postcards made from watercolor paper are a wonderful way to send greetings to friends or family). Or if using oils or acrylics, perhaps a limited palette of five or six tubes will lighten your load and still allow you to mix the colors you need. Any painting that you do on your trip will deepen your awareness and create more vivid memories. You’ll also meet the locals this way, and you’ll understand each other even if you don’t speak the language.

Here is a list of upcoming festivals, in chronological order, followed by a link to their site. An asterisk * marks those which are still accepting applications (participation in a “Quick Draw” event is usually open until the day of the event).

Augusta, Missouri April 18-28* augusta-chamber.org
Pine Mountain, Georgia April 15-22 callawaygardens.com
Florida’s Forgotten Coast, May 3-13 pleinairfl.com
Blue Ridge, Georgia May 4-6 and September 14-16 blueridgearts.net
Coastal Delaware, May 6-10 pleinaircoastalde.org
Wayne, Pennsylvania May 14-June 23 waynepleinair.com
Carmel, California May 17-20 carmelartfestival.org
Paso Robles California May 26-28 pasoartfestival.com
Cumberland, Maryland June 2-10 alleganyartscouncil.org
Cranford, New Jersey Paint the Town June 5-10 CranfordPleinAir
Canandaigua, New York June 8-10 canandaiguaarts.com
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania June 8-17* gettysburgfestival.org
Los Gatos, California June 12-16 lgpleinair.org
Solomon’s Island, Maryland June 13-16 solomonsmaryland.com
San Clemente, California June 16-24* scartgallery.com
Richmond, Virginia June 18-23 pleinairrichmond.com
Frederick, Maryland June 20-24 easelsinfrederick.org
Telluride, Colorado June 29-July 5 telluridepleinair.com
Redwing, Minnesota June 25-30 redwingartsassociation.org
Plein Air Easton, Maryland July 14-22 pleinaireaston.com
Door County, Wisconsin July 23-28 doorcountypleinair.com
Alameda, California July 29-August 3* frankbettecenter.org
Driggs, Idaho July 27-August 4* driggspleinair.com
Wexford, Ireland, Art in the Open July 30-August 7* artintheopen.org
Wilberforce, Ontario, A Brush with the Highlands August 2-5* augusta-chamber.org
Geneva, New York (Billsboro Winery) August 10-12* billsborowinery.com
Saranac Lake, New York August 16-19* saranaclakeartworks.com
Plein Air Rockies, Estes Park, Colorado August 11-23 estesarts.com
North Bennington, Vermont September 4-9* pleinair-vermont.com
Grand Canyon, Arizona September 8-14 grandcanyon.org
IPAP Worldwide Paint Out, September 14-16* ipap.homestead.com
Colorado Mountain Plein Air Fest September 15-22* coloradomountainpleinairfestival.com
Escalante Canyon, Utah, Everett Ruess Days September 21-27* everettruessdays.org
Sonoma, California October 1-6* sonomapleinair.com
San Luis Obispo, California October 1-7 * sloma.org
Moab, Utah October 5-13* pleinairmoab.com
Sedona, Arizona October 20-27 sedonapleinairfestival.com

He has a fun blog that includes not only recent paintings and events, but also interesting quotes, some from famous painters and some of his own. Here are some quotes of his own:

“I really like it when brushstrokes seem to be cruising at about 90mph and missed their exit.”

“Maybe, keeping it abstract is really keeping it real..?”

“…it is no easy task being influenced by Russian impressionists and the likes of Fairfield Porter. They are always arm wrestling in my head.”

 After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, she began her career as a scenic artist in film, TV and theater in venues ranging from The Santa Fe Opera to Sesame Street.

She is attracted to the shapes and color relationships along the part of the Hudson River near her home. The tidal river is bordered on one side by the Palisades – vertical cliffs of stone and vegetation that bound the river for nearly 20 miles. “Time and weather conspire to ensure ever-changing light on these views, creating a different landscape every day.  I use color to evoke a sense of time and place. Although I often use the Palisades and Hudson River as subject matter, I am more interested in expressing a mood rather than describing a particular place.”

The dramatic paintings shown here are15″x11″(top and bottom) and 9″x36″ (center).

His choice of medium varies among oils, watercolor, gouache and acrylic, and the pages of his sketchbook include evocative images such as this one, entitled “Stuck in the sand, Argentinian Patagonia”:

For all of his traveling, he still finds time to paint close to home. The images at the top and below are 9×12 watercolors from the “Potomac Fever” series.
“My work reflects multiple purposes – to construct memories of places, to maintain connections to friends, and to invite the viewer to share in the sensuous enjoyment of shape, color, light, and line.  To encourage the viewer to enter, explore, and think, elements may be left unfinished, symbolically ambiguous, incomplete, or extending beyond the bounds of the picture space.”

This class is for intermediate/advanced students, preferably with experience in plein air painting.

The 3-day workshop will feature daily demos as well as discussions on simplification, edges, value, color and drawing. Instruction will also include designing from photos and field sketches, photography composition, understanding winter landscape fundamentals and study of historic winter landscape painters.

 Lorenzo graduated with honors from the Colorado Institute of Art in 1983 and subsequently studied with Mark Daily at the Art Students League of Denver. He also studied with Richard Schmid, Ned Jacob, Clyde Aspevig, Skip Whitcomb, Michael Lynch and the late James Reynolds. Currently, he participates in many prestigious national invitational group exhibits, and his work is featured in numerous popular art magazines and books.

He will be offering additional  workshops this season in Tucson AZ, Wimberley TX, Santa Fe NM, Carbondale/Aspen CO, Springfield OR,  and Greenville NY.

This billboard for Eagle Electric Manufacturing Company, which was founded in 1920, no longer exists.

“What strikes me about difference between the billboard advertisements of Eagle era and those of today, is not only the loss of the ‘hand painted sign’ but the change in the products themselves and their target market. In neighborhoods where light industry once thrived, these well-crafted and exuberant signs reflected local pride in the manufacture of solid, useful products. Such products were often purchased by the same community that made them: the working middle class. The situation is very different today.”

She would take her painting supplies in a bike trailer to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for her “Working Waterfront” series. This 14x20 painting is entitled The Freddy K. Her most recent series, Rust Never Sleeps: Corrosion and Renewal in Maritime/Industrial New York, also focuses on the Navy Yard.

“What makes the plein-air approach of painting more dynamic to me is not only the changes of weather and light, but also encounters with various tenants at the Yard and conversations that help to inform my understanding.”

To the left is a 13×9 painting entitled Driggs Avenue Gate, from her 718 Series, Changing Neighborhoods in Brooklyn & Queens.

After growing up in Arizona, France and Switzerland, he graduated from Arizona State University with a BFA in painting.  Having spent time studying the traditional styles of such landscapes masters as Maynard Dixon, William Herbert Dunton and Edgar Payne, he focuses primarily on the subtle and spectacular landscapes of the American West, from California to the Canadian Rockies.

His website offers three instructional DVDs, including the PBS show Painting the American Landscape. Here is an interview about the synergy between plein air and studio painting, posted on artist/author Mitchell Albala’s blog.

“My main focus when teaching any workshop is on the fundamentals. When I run into a problem while painting, I can usually trace it back to a lack of attention with one of the basics—drawing, values, design, and color—so it’s only natural that I concentrate on this when teaching. I also emphasize the importance of working from life and developing a personal vision and technique.”

The paintings shown here are all 8″x10″ or smaller.