I will be participating in a plein air event this weekend in Glen Arbor, MI.  If you would like to stop by and see my paintings, here are the details:

Public Quick Sale – Friday Aug 5^th  5:00-6:30 pm

Glen Arbor Town hall, 6394 W Western Ave, Glen Arbor, MI 49636

Free exhibit and sale of Aug 4^th Sundowner paintings and Aug 5^th Quick Draw paintings of the Crystal River.

Wet Paint Sale and Reception - Saturday Aug 6^th  5:30-7:30 pm

Glen Arbor Art Association, 6031 S. Lake Street, Glen Arbor MI 49636

Exhibit and Sale of Aug 6^th Paint Out paintings.

Admission: $15 per person at the door or visit glenarborart.org to purchase advance admission for $10 (by Aug 3^rd)

In the above photo, I am on the Lake Michigan Beach in Frankfort, Michigan with my plein air setup for oil painting.  The photo was taken by fellow student Julianne Temple Kerns when we were attending a workshop put on by the Oliver Art Center called the Landscape in High Key with Columbus, Ohio artist Joe Lombardo.

As you can see, my plein air setup for oil painting is more compact than the one I use for pastel because I went to Italy in 2014 to take a workshop with Joe Lombardo.  I took all my supplies to Italy in a large backpack which I carried on the airplane.  The oil paints were purchased in Italy out of concerns that the TSA might remove them from my checked luggage. 

In the photo I have a small travel tripod with a ballhead and a small quick-release clamp.  To this I attach a 6 inch by 8 inch Guerrilla painter box, purchased from Judson’s Art Outfitters.  The lid of the Guerrilla painter box holds a 6x8 inch painting panel.  For ease of clean-up I use water-soluble oil paints by Windsor and Newton.

A folding Shadebuddy umbrella is very handy for keeping me from overheating in the summer sun and keeping glare off of the painting surface.  Other supplies include a sketchbook and pencils, water bottle, insect repellent, sunscreen and a hat.  And all this stuff is carted around in a rolling cart from a home improvement store. 

The hyperlinks to the products mentioned were put in to assist you in finding out about these items.  I do not receive any compensation from the manufacturers.  Happy painting!

In the above photo you can view my setup for doing pastel paintings outdoors in what is known as the plein air style.  In this photo I was on the Lake Michigan beach in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for a pastel workshop with artist Richard McKinley.

In the center of the photo is a black Induro alloy camera tripod with a ballhead and a quick-release clamp.  Below the center pole of the tripod you can see hanging an orange bag which I fill with rocks or sand to keep the tripod steady.  On the quick release clamp of the ballhead, I attach a Heilman Designs Metal easel to hold my backing board of Gatorfoam.  I use white artist tape to attach my pastel paper to the backing board.

A Heilman backpack pastel box keeps all my pastels safe and sound and is supported by an Easel butler which is an armature that attaches to my metal tripod and provides 2 arms that I can rest my pastel box on.  A folding Shadebuddy umbrella is very handy for keeping me from overheating in the summer sun.  Other supplies include a sketchbook and pencils, water bottle, a set of watercolor paints to use for underpainting, insect repellent, sunscreen and a hat.  And all this stuff is carted around in a rolling cart from a home improvement store.  The picnic table (optional) was kindly provided by the National Park Service. 

The hyperlinks to the products mentioned were put in to assist you in finding out about these items.  I do not receive any compensation from the manufacturers. 

I have a similar but different setup for my oil paintings which I will blog about later.  Happy Painting!