Anchor It Down

In the past I have seen people that have tried plein air painting and have had a bad experience during their paint out and not return to plein air painting. I have heard a lot of reasons a painter might feel uncomfortable outdoors like it's too hot, too cold, too buggy etc. Any one of these reasons could be why a new outdoor painter will not return to the great outdoors. An outdoor painter needs to be prepared for any situation that arises during the outing. 

One of the unfortunate situations that I have seen, is when the wind picks up while someone is painting and knocks their set-up down. Depending on the size of canvas and the type of easel being used; a wet canvas and the easel can go flying to the ground in no time. This is why I always bring my exercise ankle weights to my paint outs. I don't bring them out of my bag unless I feel the wind is going to be a problem. I am assured that my easel, pallet, and painting will not fall flat on its face if I have it anchored down with my weights.

Being well prepared for the outing will make the painting experience a more enjoyable one as apposed to a nightmare. Now, let's be prepared and Let's Paint!

During windy days I put one aprox. 5 lb. anckle weight on the back side of my French easel.

I also put another 5 lb. anckle weight on the front single leg of my French easel.

Recycled Kitchen Drawers

When we remodeled our kitchen, I saw an opportunity to recycle two old drawers from the kitchen. The boxes were in pretty good shape that it was a shame to throw them out. I said to myself; I can use these! Could this be the symptoms of a hoarder? Never mind that. That's for another story. I took the boxes and sanded them down. My wife helped me prime and paint them that beautiful color brown that I am crazy about. Must be the earth tones from my pallet.

After the boxes were painted and dry, they were ready to go on the road with me. You see these boxes were just the right size for my small prints that people love to buy. They even have the original handle on them for easy carrying. The boxes were finished with my website address on both sides in a nice tan color of course. I don't even need to unpack these boxes when I return home from an art event. The prints just stay right in the box and are always ready to go to the next show. Now Let's Paint!

Here I am sanding the boxes and trying out a print.

My wife Terry lending a helping hand.

Customers looking at my prints while I paint.

Acrylic Texture

When my acrylic paintings are being admired by art lovers, they usually mistake them for oils. The number one reason for my paintings looking like oils is because of the way I mix my paints, the colors I use and the additives I use. I for one do not use any retarders/extenders with my acrylics to try to slow down the drying. I simply use water and I add a gel to my paints. The water keeps the paints from drying too fast and the gel adds extra body to the paints to achieve texture in my paintings. I add about 1 part paint to 1/2 part gel ratio to the paint being used. If I want extra texture then I just add more gel. Now let's paint!

Acrylic Gloss Gel on Acrylic Paint

Close up of a corner of one of my pantings

Happy New Year!

What better way to start off my 2012 blogs than to show a video clip of the Ocala Plein Air Painters in the trenches. Actually, it is a compilation of pictures from our past paint outs. The Ocala Plein Air Painters get together the first saturday of the month for a morning paint out at different locations throughout Central Florida and paint from life. After our morning painting session we get together for lunch and have good conversation. Anyone wanting to paint with our group is more than welcome to come along. Simply visit Ocala Plein Air Painters website and visit our paint outs page. Hope you enjoy watching this video as we sling paint on our canvases. Now Let's Paint!