Great En Plein Air Watercolor Supplies

The watercolor class I’m currently taking is focused around plainting En Plein Air (in plain air, or on location).  It has opened my eyes to some amazing art supplies made specifically to store and travel well.  It’s making me wonder why in the world I’ve never heard of these before!

My very favorite is my Black Gold Pull Apart Travel Brush (mine is a size 8- perfect for your first brush if you only want to invest in 1 to start off).  What’s great about this thing is the way you store it.  The handle comes off and you can use it has a cap- saving your brush tip from the hazards it would find being tossed around your purse. (not that I ever treat my art supplies like that…)

I love it!  I’m always so paranoid about bristles getting bent out of shape- I wish all my brushes would store like that, not just my travel brush.

Other great supplies include

• an Arches 140 lb. Block  I’m using one that’s 7×10 which is small enough to carry around, but big enough to give you a pretty good final piece.  Getting your watercolor paper in a block means you don’t have to stretch it before painting (a block is like one of those pads of paper held together at the top with a layer of waxy/plastic stuff where you can just easily tear the top sheet off, except a block has that waxy seal all around every edge so your paper stays put while you paint, but can be easily removed when you’re done)
• A Bee Paper Super Deluxe Sketch Pad size 9×6.  This sketch pad is close enough to my block size that I can easily take a sketch and bring it onto my block to paint.  What’s also great is this sketch pad has great, heavy weight paper that can be used for any medium, so you can draw in it and then practice painting before you move onto your block.  (because, seriously- those blocks are expensive-  I don’t want to waste any paper!)
• An Alvin Palette Box with Rubber Gasket Seal– this paint palette is great for painting on location because it’s got a nice rubber seal when it’s closed so none of your wet watercolors will be able to seep into your bag.
• Last of all, a simple Plastic Tablecloth .  This isn’t so much for on location, but for when I finish up my paintings at home.  Because I’ve been painting on location I haven’t really set aside a table in my house for painting.  I love having one or two of those protective plastic table cloths on hand to throw over my nice kitchen table and even a chair (mine is upholstered so the paint could really do some damage!) before I get started.