181019 Pochard Box using a plate hanger

Plate hanger for holding panels

October 2018

Day Break

Acrylics on paper

Moose Study
7 x 9
Acrylics on pastel paper

Black bear at dawn
Acrylics on board
Updated from a couple of years ago. Lightened background trees and added dead trees.

  

French Resistance plein air pochade box adaption

Guerrilla-Painter-Medium-Resistance-Pochade

I have had this box for a number of years but rarely used it because it lacked a pallet. The company, https://guerrillapainter.com/ , suggest using the area in front as a pallet, but that takes away storage space. Also the area is too deep for me personally plus it makes cleanup difficult.

My solution was to build a pallet platform out of ½ inch square dowels and dry erase board, 6" x 9 1/2". Any hard wood board would do, I chose the dry erase for easy clean up.

I cut four dowels to 1 inch lengths, pre-drilled four holes at each corner, glued and screwed the dowels in place. I used Hide glue to help keep the dowels in place while I screwed them on to the board.

The area below the palette can accommodate painting supplies, etc.

The result is a pallet that is functional and can be removed for easy clean up.

Update:

I installed cleats in the storage area so that the pallet can fit on top. 

The cleats add more strength to the pallet than the previous design.

This is the pallet area now. I replaced the previous pallet (dry erase board) with a birch panel. One thing that I would do next time is to lower the cleats a bit so that there is more of a lip for the pallet to prevent any access paint from running into another section.

September 2018 Daily Practice

Cloud Study

6 3/4 x 4 3/4

Acryla Gouache on mat board

w/c and gouache test

Drew scene on location with pencil in journal. Next day outlined all with pen and colored in with w/c pencils overlaying with a wash of water. Brought out some details by adding more color with the w/c pencils and then using white gouache washed over the colors I laid down. Adjusted the hue by adding more color or gouache depending on what was needed. As usual, the w/c dried lighter, even more so with the addition of the white gouache. Holbein gouache was used here. I suspect that if I try to darken the hues with w/c some of the layers below will lift. I will try Acryla gouache in the future as the bottom layers will  not lift. I read that a varnish coat will darken the colors. 

Homer Study

6 x 4 1/4

Gouache on board

 Wolf's Neck Woods

9 x 7

Graphite

Popham Beach

9 x 7

Watercolor

Marsh View II

Marsh View II

9 x 7

Gouache and Oil Pastel

On Mat Board

Background and enhancements done with gouache. Highlights in middle and fore ground done with oil pastels.

Quiet Harbor

Quiet Harbor

14 x 11

Acrylic on board

Used Titanium white and acrylic medium to push back the intensity of the colors of trees and water.

The Sponge Diver - After Homer

The Sponge Diver

After Winslow Homer

10 x 8

Watercolor and Gouache on tan paper

Stumped

Stumped

9 x 7

Acrylics

View from the castle

View from the castle

9 x 11

Acrylics

The Sentinals
8 1/2 x 10 1/2
Mixed media
Watercolor wash, gouache details & finished with mixing zinc white acrylic and watercolor.

Salem Winter

Salem Winter

11 x 11

Acrylics

Plein Air studies

Morning Monarch

9 x 12

Oil on canvas

Plein air study started 8/31, AM.  Finished in studio 9/3, PM. Used Guerrilla Painter box in the field with palette extension (home made). 

Scarborough SunSet

9 x 12

Pastels

Lowered the tree line. Added more colors.

Scarborough Sunset

9 x 12

Pastels

Drawing done plein air, finished in studio.

Cloud Study - saco

11 3/4 x 8 3/4

Watercolor

From May 25th Art Walk

Dining al fresco

Plein air painting started on site with WB oils. completed in studio with oil pastels.

Pine Point clam digger.

Plein air watercolor

The contrast between the green shirt and the red pail caught my attention. As I set up to do the painting the clam digger took off his shirt and I had to improvise.

Studio, Acrylics on canvas

Clam digger and gull

Reference photo

Range Pond State Park

6/04/2018

 Plein Air Sketch

Fallen Log

11 x 7

Pastels

Plum Island from Crane Estate

5 x 7

Watercolor

Kayakers at Pine Point
9 x 12
Watercolor

The Overpass
9 x 6 3/4
Watercolor

Started as a sketch of the overpass, rain forced me to do a full painting on site. Finished the painting in studio using sketch and photo.

Free Plein Air Tips

Free 240 Plein AirTips

The title speaks for itself. Hopefully the tips will help.

DYI Pochade Box

I started a prototype of this pochade box at the beginning of the week. The biggest problem was the panel holder. The top and bottom was easy, just two boxes, hinged together. After several attempts at the design of the panel holder, I settled for a variation to the panel holders that I had made in the past. In putting this together I discovered some better ways to make this style in the future. 

This was a challenging project and I may do this again using more expensive wood and hardware.

Saturday May 5th

Timber Point 

Biddeford boat Ramp

Gary's Place

Gary's Place

9 x 12

oil on board

Started this as a plein air painting a couple of days ago. The weather did not cooperate so I finished in the studio.

Gary's Place 2
8 x 6
Oil Pastel over acrylic

Gary's After the Rain

8 x 6

Oil Pastel