'The Path on the Left'             6x6             plein air pastel           ©Karen Margulis
purchase this painting here $65

 It has to be compact and light. Everything has to fit in my backpack. Over the years I have continuously downsized my plein air set up. I remember the days of dragging a rolling cart filled to the top with painting supplies. Set up took forever. I could never find what I wanted in the cart full of unnecessary stuff.  It was discouraging and plein air wasn't something I enjoyed.

Until I downsized! Now I have several different downsized plein air set-ups. I keep them always ready. The type of painting situation helps me decide which set up to bring.  Today I will share my Compact Travel Light Set Up.

'Blue Ridge Memories'          6x6       $65

Travel Light Kit: Heilman double sketchbook pastel box, Heilman easel attachment,  Oben AT3400 tripod

Everything fits in my Orvis backpack with room to spare. I will always carry this on the plane. I have room for extra travel needs such as my toiletries and iPad mini.  I use an Oben AT3400 tripod which folds up to 16". It will fit in the backpack but sometimes I put it in my checked bag if I want extra room in the backpack.

Heidi checks out my set-up. Here you can see the inside of the Orvis backpack. I love this pack because it sits so well without flopping over. I used it to weigh down my tripod using a mini bungee cord. It also has plenty of outside pockets.

This is all of my gear. I am using a Heilman double sketchbook pastel box. I put the metal ease attachment into a small stuff sack to keep it protected. I have my backing board with bankers clips. This is actually a hard plastic board which will hold paper. It is called an Artworks Book from Easel Butler.  I have a pouch for baby wipes, a zippered pouch for miscellaneous supplies such as tape, watercolor set, alcohol, fixative. I also have 2 black portfolio folders by Itoya. I use these to store my paper and the finished paintings.

Here is the Heilman box open. I have an assortment of Terry Ludwig pastels on the left and Girault pastels on the right. I do vary the selection depending on my location.  I don't preselect my pastels before I start painting since my palette is already limited!

Here is the entire set up. I was asked about the stability of this set up. I did notice some shaking but I am a fairly aggressive plein air painter so I did hold onto the board to steady it some. If I was a kind and gentle painter it wouldn't be as noticeable. It really didn't bother me. I am trading size and weight for complete stability and to me it is well worth it!

Next week I am taking this set up with me to teach a plein air workshop in Dripping Springs Texas. This will be the ultimate test so I will report back with my thoughts.

If you'd like to see this set up in action watch my plein air demo video on YouTube click HERE

Resources:

Heilman Designs
Easel Butler Artworks Book
Itoya Original Art Portfolios
Orvis

Wednesday Night Pastel Class....Underpainting

Wednesday night pastel classes are so much fun! In this class we talked about manipulating wet underpaintings and we used bird nests as our subject matter. I had photos and several real nests to paint from. Everyone did a unique and beautiful nest painting and those wet underpainting helped everyone stay painterly! Join us this Fall for class on Wednesdays either 10-12 or 7-9 pm.

Monotypes with Pastel Mini Workshops in February 2011

Are you looking to energize your art? Would you like to experiment with new ways to use pastel? Try Monotypes...the liberating medium that combines painting with printmaking. In this four hour workshop I will introduce you to a variety of techniques for creating monotypes. We will learn how to combine our prints with pastels as Degas did for many of his works. No experience needed... just bring your sense of adventure for a fun afternoon of creating. You should bring your pastels but all printmaking supplies will be provided.
When: Saturday February 26 1:00-5:00 OR
Sunday, February 27 1:00-5:00
Where: My home studio in Marietta, Georgia
Cost: $45 plus $10 materials fee
Please email me at kemstudios@yahoo.com for more information or to register for the workshop

Pastel Back to Basics Class Session I Review

The focus for the last four classes was 'The Planning of a Painting'. We spent two classes just planning the painting and the third week we actually painted but the catch was we had to paint larger than 16x20. This is my finished demo painting 18x24. The first photo shows what we did during the first week. We planned the composition and did value studies for the painting. I have developed a planning worksheet to make this process easier.

Monochromatic Value Study

After we did our value studies in a thumb nail version we painted a small monochromatic study. The idea was to concentrate only on the values and not to worry about color at this point. That would be the next class!

Color Studies for Larger Painting

The second week of class we focused on color. We did small color studies each one using a different color scheme. It was fun to explore the way color changed the mood and feeling of the painting.

Week Four .... Painting from our Imagination

After spending three weeks with our image, we were ready to be finished with it. I emphasized that the planning of a painting doesn't usually take 3 weeks! I usually spend anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour on a painting plan....but by breaking down the steps we now could see just how easy it can be. For the last class of the session, we were now ready to have some fun. So I asked everyone to put their reference photo away and paint our scene from our imaginations. I did this as the demo but I ended up making some changes after class. I decided to turn the yellow flowers into daisies! I really enjoyed this session and look forward to the next 4 weeks when we will explore Underpaintings!