Plein Air Painting on the Trail
There is nothing better than hiking into the woods for a little plein air painting surrounded by nature. The atmosphere of the location somehow infuses your painting style and, for me, is the best form of meditation available. Deciding on the essentials is important as the weight of your backpack quickly adds up, especially with oil painting. As an oil and watercolor plein air painter, I have experience packing for both that may help you to decide on your best easel before making the investment. Some important considerations to make when choosing plein air art supplies are:
- How long is your hike?
- Do you already have a painting location in mind?
- How much time do you have to paint once on location?
How to decide what to bring?
If you are going more than a few miles, the weight of your pack is a very important consideration. For long distances, greater than 5 miles, I usually just bring my minimalist watercolor painting kit. If you are hiking someplace new and don’t have a specific painting location in mind, consider bringing the least possible equipment with you. I have learned this the hard way lugging my full set of oil supplies several miles only to have the mosquitos be too intense or run out of time on the trail. On the other had, I almost ALWAYS bring my minimalist watercolor set on every hike. I only hike with my full oil setup when I have a solid goal in mind of creating an oil painting and know I have the time to achieve it.
Packing Light: Minimalist plein air watercolor setup
This is my hiking, biking, kayaking setup that fits in a ziplock bag and goes anywhere. For the lightest paper support, I tape Arches paper to two similar size gator boards, I add rubber spacers to the four corners of one board and rubber band them together right sides facing in. Sometimes I just take an Arches watercolor block but that does weigh a bit more. I have long since used up all the original colors that came in the half pan set. I refill the pans with my preferred palette squeezing paint from the tube into the pan and letting it dry before I travel with it.
Over the years, I have experimented with various ways to reduce the weight and size of my set ups while maximizing flexibility. Here is my current watercolor setup:
- Winsor and Newton Professional Artist Compact Set of 14 half pans.
- Arches water color paper cut to the desired size (usually 5 x7 or 8 x 10 inches) and taped onto a similar size piece of lightweight corrugated plastic board (gator board) OR small Arches 7 x 10 inch block
- DaVinci Maestro Kolinsky Sable Travel Brush Size 6
- Small wide mouth water bottle
- Paper towel
Comprehensive Plein Air Watercolor Supply List
- En Plein Air Pro easel tray
- wine box panel with tripod quick release screwed on and clips
- Mijello Fusion Air-Tight Watercolor Palette
- Arches water color paper cut to the desired size (usually quarter sheet) and taped onto a similar size piece of lightweight corrugated plastic board (gator board) or Arches block
- DaVinci Maestro Kolinsky Sable Travel Brush Size 4,6,10
- Faber Castell CLIC and go water cup
- Paper towel
- Manfrotto Element Small aluminum tripod
- Osprey Mira 32 Backpack
Minimalist Plein Air Oil Painting Supply List
- New Wave U Go 8×10 pochade box
- 7 x 5 inch Centurian universal panel
- Holbein Duo Aqua Primary color paint tubes in: titanium white, deep ultramarine, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red medium.
- Brush storage tube
- Brushes: Jack Richesons Grey Matters Flats size 1,3,4,5 Round Size 1 (I use )
- Palette knives
- Small wide mouth water bottle
- paper towel
- Optional: tripod
If I have to hike a long distance and really have my heart set on painting in oil, this is my setup. I can either paint with the pochade box on my lap or add my tripod to the pack. When I am done, I wipe the paint off the palette and close the box with the painting secure inside. I have found 5×7 is the largest panel I can do this with, given the small size of the pochade box. This way I don’t need to bring a separate panel holder.
Comprehensive Plein Air Oil Painting Supply List
When I don’t have to hike far, I enhance the list above to include a a few more paint tubes, my tripod and panel carrier.
- New Wave U Go 8×11 or 11 x 14 pochade box and brush tray
- 8 x 10 inch or 9 x 12 inch Centurian universal panel
- Holbein Duo Aqua Primary color paint tubes in: titanium white, deep ultramarine, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red medium, permanent alizarin crimson, transparent red oxide
- Brush storage tube
- Brushes: Flats size 1,3,4,5 Round Size 1
- Small wide mouth water bottle
- paper towel
- Manfrotto Element Small aluminum tripod
- Osprey Mira 32 Backpack
- Raymar wet panel carrier
I prefer to use the u.go box with the optional gray removable tempered glass palette glass palette rather than the white plastic palette they come with. I love how easy the glass is to clean with a razor blade. After two years with this pochade box, I have found the u.go to be nearly indestructible. My tripod has blown over a few times on the rocky shores here with only a small crack in the corner of the glass panel inside. The 8×11 pochade box is compact and fits easily in my small daypack as well the larger Mira 32.
Plein Air Backpack - important features
I prefer the built in water bladders, hip straps and women’s fit of the Osprey backpacks. My smaller daypack is the Osprey Skimmer 20 which has 2.5 L water capacity and plenty of room for my minimalist plein air supplies as well as layers and lunch. For carrying my comprehensive set ups, I need the additional space in my Osprey Mira 32 backpack. The Mira backpack has lots of storage compartments, comfortable hip straps with padding, and just enough room for all my supplies without making the transition to a huge pack. For me, the hip straps are a must to keep the weight off my back.
Tripods - what to look for
Size and weight are the two main considerations when choosing a camera tripod. I chose the Manfrotto Element Small as the best option on the market today with my price point (<$150). The tripod legs collapse to 12.6 inches length to fit inside either back pack and extend to 56.3 inches. It weighs in at only 2.5 lbs. The quick release plate attaches easily to easel. The ball head provides great flexibility with positioning and is solid once tightened.
Portable Easel Considerations
A lightweight easel system designed for outdoor use that fits into a well constructed backpack is a great choice to regularly enjoy hiking and plein air painting. There are many options available for pochade boxes that have various pro’s and con’s. I read lots of reviews prior to purchasing the New Wave u.go and have been very happy with it for the smaller panel sizes (5×7 through 12×16) that I typically paint outdoors with. I have the medium and large size u.go pochade boxes, but find I use the medium box (8×11) the most. I enjoy the larger size and work space available on the 11 x 14 pochade box, but find that it is less steady on tripod and in strong wind I need to keep it steady with one hand. The smaller size and weight of the 8×11 compact box make this a versatile easel.
I hope this post has provided some useful insights as you determine what works best for you!
