Letting wonder lead your watercolours
I recently went on a plein air painting getaway weekend, and while I was packing my car with gear for painting on location, I thought I'd use my trip to share some resources to help you get out and enjoy painting on location as well...even if it's just your backyard!
Plein air painting can feel intimidating, so the key is to make it as accessible as possible. My friend Steve Puttrich says, "Even if you're just looking out your window and painting what you see, you're plein air painting." So I want to encourage you to give it a try! It's been a deeply valuable part of my own growth as an artist, but to get to this place I had to overcome a lot of resistance and misconceptions about what plein air painting would look like and feel like.
To get you started - a couple of great books on plein air painting:
(some of the links below are affiliate links)
Dare to Sketch, Felix Scheinberger. I love the fresh, raw sketches in this little book and Scheinberger's playful approach. (Canadian link)
Direct Watercolour, Marc Taro Holmes. Marc is someone who really helped make plein air more accessible to me. We met in Montreal and painting with him made me feel like this was something I could do. His books invite you to do the same (he has an urban sketching book that is also very good.) (Canadian Link)
Travel Easels: There are many ways to paint on location, and many artists don't fuss with easels, preferring to sit, or even prop their sketchbook on their arm. But I like to be able to paint a little larger, and a travel easel designed for watercolour allows me to tilt my board at different angles and includes a shelf for my palette and water. I use both the En Plein Air Pro, which has a larger surface area, and the backing board and shelf from Canadian company Cup Easels.
Travel Brushes: I try to be careful with my paintbrushes so that they last as long as possible. That means laying them flat to dry before putting them back in their holder with the bristles pointing up (if you put them pointing up while wet, the water in the ferrule can damage the brush), never leaving my brushes in the water container (bending the bristles) and when I travel, I pack my brushes very carefully in a brush roll. The brush roll is handy for painting workshops, but when I am on location, I prefer using travel brushes.
My favourite travel brushes are from Rosemary and Co and I've been using some of them for years. I've put them all together into a collection for you: https://www.rosemaryandco.com/wishlist/index/index/wishlist_id/323249/
And here are two of my plein air adventure videos - the memories from these outings are always rich and joyful even when the painting doesn't end up in a frame:
Last year's trip to Dawson City, Yukon: LINK
And painting in my own backyard: LINK