When there is nothing of interest to paint from the RV site.....

Cathy and I traveled in our RV from our Comox Valley home on Vancouver Island to Collingwood Ontario where we spend the summers.  We try to arrive at the next RV park so there is enough time for a quick sketch or plein air painting. Often as not there is just nothing of interest to paint, so I travel with a large selection of photos and refer to them. I haven't posted about my acrylic plein air set up in a while, so I thought I would combine the two.

We had a free no-travel day in Oliver BC with friends. Nothing excited me to paint and it was raining on and off. So I put out the RV awning get my photos and set up to paint.

I have owned or tried most plein air set ups. Because I paint standing and am fairly tall, I have stopped using pochade boxes - where the separation of the palette surface and the panel is very tight.  In stead I prefer a separate palette and panel holder. I now use the Art Box and Panel  and have one set for oils and one for acrylics. Simple, inexpensive and work well for me.

I hold my paint on a Masterton Stay Wet plastic palette - without paper and sponge. I mix on grayed-glass.

I use a plastic recycle box to carry my supplies strapped to a folding folding cart. A plastic board can be used to create a work table for holding supplies. I no longer back pack in to places to paint - body part problems.

I spent most of the rainy day making 12x16 sketches on linen glued to 1/8 door skin. This day, each was given an underpainting of quincradone violet. Thumbnail sketches were made to create the rough design. The sketch was transferred to the panel using acrylic marker. Each sketch took about an hour. We are now in Ontario where, when I get a chance, I will decide if any are keepers, frame and consider each and what need to be done next.

In spite of the rain, it was a fun day.