I gotta go with the DIY travel set ups for the price alone. Solid bang for your buck. As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts, Leslie! One can take so much from these videos. 🥰
I’m absolutely in love with the messenger box and the Sendak roll. Definitely both on my Christmas list! I just discovered your channel btw. I got into watercolors after I saw someone painting at a bar in Costa Rica with a watercolor pen. The next day a tiny wood travel pallet popped up in my targeted ads and now I’m hooked after not having painted since I was a kid. Love your channel. Your travel supplies are goals!
Hi Leslie. Jim from Madrid, Spain (a fellow artist and a NY expat living abroad). I mainly paint in watercolor and gouache. Great vid! Very useful with plenty of different ideas and ways to help anyone on their plein-air and urban sketching adventures. I have mobility and other health issues and I have made my own portable set up out of a 10mm foam board with very specific requirements: 1. LIGHT - Due to my personal issues, weight is a critical issue. My setup is extremely light (I haven't weighed it but it is truly light since its done with a thick foam board). 2. PORTABILITY - It must fit in my very light art bag (A3 Size fits) made of textile material and a messenger type style. 3. FUNCTIONALITY - In my case, I needed it to be used as an easel (or table surface) that I can use anywhere (standing or sitting on a bench, for example), strapped and hanging from my body as a portable table using a shoulder strap to hang it (I attached some hanging things like the ones used in bags to all 4 sides of the foam board), though I have made an extra attachment to be able to clip it to my my also very light manfrotto tripod when needed (at home it also serves as an easel this way). 4. SIZE - I needed it to be kind of big so I can fit a full A4 size sketchbook opened (which turns into an A3 size) as well as an A3 or a bit bigger (and more squared) watercolor pad for larger paintings. So the board folds in half and when opened I use an aluminum thing I found at a "Home Depot" kind of store used sometimes in windows and stuff (I don't even know its name) that I slide into the board on both sides where the fold is, preventing it from folding into itself when hung from my shoulder. 5. PRICE - this whole set up cost me less than 25 € (aprox.). I also made a very light pochade box using an aluminum clipboard box that Amazon sells for 18 € and modified it accordingly. It looks very similar to the "Blue Star Crafts Messenger Wood Box" shown in your video but I can use it, again, hanging from my shoulder against my belly or on a tripod which is when I use it more often with (I had to modified it accordingly, of course), and when I take this option I don't need to carry an additional bag or anything else (everything is stored within the box itself). NOTE: All the modifications I do are super easy to do with a small drill and some screws, nothing complex at all, and as a disclaimer I am not affiliated to anybody. I just wanted to help by providing more DIY alternatives based on my personal experience and search for Easy to make DIY cheap options, because many commercial products are very expensive for many artists and it is always useful to find cheap alternatives and save money that you will most probably need for other Art products such as paint, brushes, paper, etc. Again, I congratulate you on the making of this video which it was not only very well made, but it is one of the best and most useful videos I've watched on this specific subject (and I have watched far too many in the search for ideas). So... Thank you very much for sharing all of your expertise and ideas with us, and I love the way you explain everything in your videos... You can tell you have lots of experience in Teaching (which I'm sure your students must have all been thrilled to have you as a teacher!). Cheers from Sunny Spain! 😀👍😎✌
Hi Jim from Madrid! Those sound like really clever and useful solutions. I just love inexpensive DIY setups. You should make a video showing your setups; I’m sure many could benefit. Thanks for your comment! I definitely spent hours filming and editing this video, so that means a lot. 😊
I just looove small art materials! The small clipboard is adorable. I use a letter sized whiteboard. Its metallic surface holds my magnetic stuff. And Clips hold the rest. Also useful - but not as cute as the small clippy-boardy. Sweet! Thank you for showing us all the options! Happy painting.
I'm so pleased that I came cross your channel! I love the calm and methodical manner in which you go through the materials with pros and cons! And the wristband is brilliant! I never considered painting a performance sport before but I do now lol! 🙂
Thank you! The wristband makes plein air so much more efficient. I appreciate your comment; I put hours into making these videos informative and organised. 😊
At VCU school of the Arts in Right in the middle of the City of Richmond Virginia, we used to paint as a class in Monroe Park, which is right in the middle of the City, and right in the middle of the college campus. During these outdoor plein air classes, we used to have homeless people who lived at the park wander up to us and sit down next to us and critique our paintings and drawings!
On the corrugated plastic, cut it in the opposite direction so that the rubber band runs the same direction as the corrugation. It won't bend quite so badly. To prevent bend in the opposite direction, laminate two layers, one in each direction (or even do the second one in a 45 degree orientation if you have the material).
I want that Peg and Awl box! I've been eying it forever. Love the add-on accessories on it too. I hike a lot and love doing plein air, so i think it would be a perfect fit.
Leslie, I have a small clipboard I use also. When I started using it I found that if the paper got wet where the clip met the paper it would sometimes mar the paper. My remedy was to get a small piece of surgical tubing the length of the clip , split it and pushed it over the edge of the clip and it solved the problem. Great video. Very informative as usual.
The wooden pochade boxes at the end are so cool & you have such a watercolourist outfit! I'm not even sure what that means lol but it's great - I've simply got to wear more scarves (:
I was totally influenced by your long video on the Peg & Awl Scout box, and I love mine!!! It brings me so much joy. It really is worth the investment, the craftsmanship is incredible.
Hi Leslie, watched this video again and found out that there are two ports on the left and right sides of the Natsume pochade can be connected to the action camera to record the painting process, and there are two ports on the bottom to connect any one of the tripod and the action camera. Also it says on their etsy page that 4 magnets are hidden in the 4 corners of the drawing board to magnetically fix the drawing paper for drawing. So the bottom wooden strip with the 4 magnets, I assume can be used to hold your paper in place.
I came across your video by accident and saw it was an hour long. I thought hmm have I got time to watch this and is it worth it. I started watching and boy it is worth watching. So informative about equipment which I’ve found so hard to find. Loved all of it and the links to other places like the Etsy shop, so useful and I loved the gorgeous sketchbooks. I’m gonna make myself some and now I’m looking for fabrics. My daughter loves designing stuff so I have asked her to come up with some designs for covers for my sketchbooks. Thank you so much for all the information you have put in for us. I recently bought a slim sketch board to put on to an easel but now I’m thinking if I can cut out the gap in the middle I can by the magnetic strips and elastic and make my own board for plain air sketching. I’m inspired. Thank you again 👍🏻
I found your channel today, and I love it. I appreciate your detailed information, and for thinking of aches and pains and fundamental things like needing to take a toilet brake.
Thank you so much for reviewing so many options that you have experience with…so much better for me than having to find all and review on my own. I definitely have a favorite…the larger Ugo. I am a plein air watercolor painter who paints on larger paper and/or blocks. I currently have an outdoor lightweight easel setup, which I have been using for several years. My husband bought it for me so I am very happy for his caring.😊I like it but it’s a bit wobbly & the part which holds your paper does not always stay where you put it. I found that you must constantly tighten all the screws-about which I have just learned. I think you need to tighten them with every use. (Plein Aire Silk is the brand, I believe). I will probably continue to use it for awhile but am thankful for your info when I am ready to get a new Plein Aire setup. Thank you for taking the time and sharing.😊
Thanks for this...lots of very helpful ideas! Clips, clips & more clips. We can never have enough clips for all sorts of needs. I have picked up lots of clips when I see them at a cheap or clearance price. I'm in the US, so we have Dollar Tree...they sell a few different kinds. They have a small metal type that comes in a pack of 6 that I've bought several packs in the recent past. Home Depot sells a kind of inexpensive but very substantial clamp clips that are a kind of ratchet to fit "whatever" you need it for & comes in a variety of sizes. Then there are zip ties and bungee cords. I also like your idea using magnets to hold metal palettes or anything metal. Thanks! 😊 🙏🏼
I bought the one from Just Go Sketching 2 years ago. I love it but now I’m thinking for my days out plein air painting where I can’t sit I may get the Stablo for my tripod. I did get the Box n Paint Pochade which has a carry case and a watercolor palette with wells (pallet is not going to be available until September). It’s a nice set up but on the heavy side. I have a glass pallet in it currently so I can use it in place of my Sienna Pochade until the watercolor pallet comes in. I’m so happy I found your channel. Thank you so much for this video! ❤
The Stablo is my favorite of all the easels, pochade, and others that I have. I must have a dozen set ups. But the Stablo is my favorite. The issue with the art toolkit palettes is that they’re alluminUm and the only thing that adheres is the part with the magnet. So the other part stays floppy. But I still use mine. I don’t have the easel tripod attachment though because I have some awesome easels for tripod mounts. But I love to use it in my lap. But something I love is his newer brush/pencil holder. It has several holes the same size but has a magnet as well as the black band so every size fits in the big holes. I fine that I’m using that more.
Yes, I saw that on the website! I must get one (haha). I didn’t realise that about the Art Toolit! That makes complete sense now. That inner magnet isn’t strong enough to make a good connection. Thanks for sharing! 😊
I’ve had my eye on that first Natsume box for a while now and finally gave in and ordered one and after watching your videos I can’t wait for it to be delivered so I can go on an adventure outside to paint with it! ♥️🎨
Thank you! Awesome job presenting very thoroughly and also some unusual and different items not just all the same same, same, same as everybody else. And you also added a lot of very personal and original ideas on how to use each item. I appreciate the information and the links. I am in the market for something that I have not found yet, but possibly one of these. I will check out your links and look a little further into some of them. Thanks again, SARA
In Art school, we made a 2 foot by three foot piece of plywood and there was an elliptical 4 inch hole at the top so we could carry it around campus with our taped down large paper, or, we would put it in our portfolio and carry it with one hand, and carry our art tackle box with the other hand and draw and paint plein air, as we sat on the ground in a park. LOL, I was 18! I, We, could all could get up then!
Re the green board, I have made my own for very litte monay. Just took a very sturdy cardboard, the back of a used watercolour pad and glued a magnet sheet on that I bough for ca1£ in the local dollarstore. Works great even if it is t as nice like the green you show. If the cardboard wears out( wich it hasn’t yet after over two years use) one cm easily make another!
You're wonderfully organized. Also, you are very knowledgeable with watercolor materials. It's wonderful travel information also for artists. Great teacher 👏! Thank you for sharing!!
I am so thankful I found your channel. It’s already made a significant impact on my art. I purchased, and just received the 12 color mini palette from Blue Star. I am wondering how you safely manage the magnets in the field. It seems like I could lose them easily and I wondered if you had any tips.
Since seeing the video of the Peg & Awl box, I am absolutely in love with it! My dad was a master woodcrafter, so I can understand it's craftsmanship and that's worth every penny! :) Thanks so much for this video! I've been wanting to see if I could find something that I can use as a "portable table" for the times when I don't have a table available to me when I'm out and about, and it's a bit awkward holding everything in my hand all at once. I'll have to see if I can look further into the travel board setups. I've even toyed with the idea of just getting a cheap wooden box from Michael's and turning it into something like you did with the Schmincke wooden box, but I had been trying to really think about how I would set it up and such...I'm definitely getting some ideas, now 😉
I’m so glad this was helpful! The more you paint outside the more you realise what works and doesn’t work for you. I love the boxes because I don’t have to necessarily bring extra things with me, but I equally love the drawing boards. A lot depends on whether or not I want to draw in a sketchbook or loose paper. I hope you find your perfect setup! 😊
I just ordered the JustGoSketching 8x5.8 sketch board and travel bag. I’m so excited to get it. I told them that you sent me! Thanks for the great Plein Air kit review.❤
I own, use and recommend both the small and medium U.go pochades for watercolor Plein air. I usually use the medium since I paint with 11”x14” blocks. If you drop rare earth magnets under the mixing palette, you’ve got a magnetized palette. And it’s large enough for my steel Holbein palette magnetized on top. It all fits in a smaller backpack. I’ll be looking at a few of your smaller recommendations too. Thanks!
Just a suggestion with the coroplast. Tape a strip of the same material 90 degrees to the “lines” of the main board. I cut a hole the size of my naglene bottles that slipsin and tape magnets to attach my Arttoolkit kit. I have also cut the notch to attach the same way to my sketchbook. Very light weight and easy to customize.
I love the diy ideas, thankyou! The sugarplum fairies of design are dancing in my head… quick observation, a solution to the corrugated foam board bending is to cut it so the corrugated “grain” is going in the opposite direction of the elastic. I learned this from Rachel Parker’s video on packaging art!
So psyched to see your rating for the Scout! What a thrilling end:) ALso, i love your walk throughs of all of these and am so tempted to try one of the small wooded set ups. Thank you Leslie:)
I made my own board of the just go sketching type, using foam board. It's very light like the corrugated board but doesn't have the corrugations to fold along, so it seems stronger. I used duct tape around the edges to finish it off and protect the edges from delaminating from slipping clips on and off. It seems to be working really well so far. I've also got a larger A4? sized clipboard for working larger on. Recently I've seen storage clipboards to buy online. I'd need to physically see one to know how much and what you could store in it. I imagine it would be heavier than what I currently use, though I've seen them in both A4 and A5 size. The smaller one might be good with postcards.
Great video. I have the just sketch ones but I have now ordered the nurses clipboard for when I don’t want to use a sketchbook and the wide clips to hold things (I actually ordered the other clips from a previous video and use them in the kitchen all the time, not for painting, so a great buy). I also have the folio art toolkit, again from a previous video as I now can get them from Rosemary & Co - whose brushes I love. So many great ideas here. Many thanks.
Wow, what a thorough presentation of so many great options! I have a very lightweight bamboo easel that mounts to a tripod (made by Taylor Seamount on Etsy) which I love. But I recently ordered the StablO as a hand-held lap option, and I can't wait for it to arrive!
@@LeslieStroz LOL! Yes, it is. Only fair I guess if you add another since you have influenced me on so many purchases, haha...i.e. large Sendak and many items that fill it, DS colors, multiple ArtTool kits, and Rosemary and Co. brushes...all much loved, thanks!
With the second set up, you could cut some foamcore board up with an exacto knife and find some faux leather or some kind of laminate, and glue it to the foamcore board and buy some magnets and find some velcro or other sort of elastic band at a sewing store and make one. I think I will try this!
I love natsume small kit. Perfect for watercolor painters. I even like last one.. good for oil painting. I don't know if it's the warmth of wood and wooden pallette specially the brown warm tones feels more inviting. I'm unable to put feeling into words but there's something very special about wooden things and this watercolor pallate.. I'm so in love with all warm wooden set ups ❤😅☺️
Hi Leslie, love your video. So much information and so many useful ideas. As soon as I saw the Schminke granulating paints in their cute box I thought it would make a great little pochard box. But your video gave me a chance to see quite a good range of hand held or tripod supported options actually in use with your demonstrations, which is very helpful before you buy. I have bought two made from wood, from a small business in Hong-Kong. One I use for gouache and one for watercolour, both are portable with strap connections but they are quite heavy so I use them in the house and garden mostly. Your reviews of the Natsume range seem better options for lighter weight travel pochards. So, thank you for the effort you put into making this brilliant video. I shall share it with my arty friends and family. Kathy x
I’m happy this helped, Kathy! The smaller one from Natsume is lighter, but the larger one is probably more like the one you already have. The travel boards are really great for travel if you’re looking for something lightweight! 😊
U.GO sells a glass (coloured or clear) as an option to replace the plastic liner and they also sell extra trays that can be magnetically attached to the sides.
The Ugo looks like it would be a great lap top set up for people who take a portable chair and sit to paint. The 1.4 Lbs. would sit in the lap. The inclined sketchbook would be nice. Mine is always flat on my lap because I don’t have a set up yet.
I actually use a big glass jar with a lid for painting outside, it’s heavy and won’t fall over! Yes it becomes the heaviest item in the bag but it’s worth it!
I have the same Go Draw sketch-boards that you have in A6 & A5 size. I love them and was fortunate to get them before the price increase (and before the clip shape changed!). The are so slim and easy to slip in a bag. I use them with my Art Toolkit palettes with an extra clip as you illustrated (or with my micro pocket painter with slim metal discs added to the bottom). I have been looking at the Stablo for well over a year now and trying to decide if I want to invest in one. I love the larger water cup option and the bigger surface, but the Go Draw is probably sufficient for me (I just really love the design of the Stablo).
Thank you Leslie this has been enormously helpful. I am just about to purchase the Stablo (used your links so I hope you get commission 😊). I have the medium UGO and affixed small magnets underneath the palette so the palette itself is magnetised. I like it but I use the paper holder to clip my reference photo and the palette to mix. I find it difficult to paint with an extended arm over the palette and much prefer to rest my sketch book on my lap (hence the need for a Stablo), this is due to being left handed and using my sketch book at an angle. I do have the blue star box but I am sorry to say that I haven’t really found a good use for it (I have a bad case of SABLE Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy 😅) especially since I got the Peg and Awl Sendak Artist rolls and the Maker Pouch. Michael Harding watercolour although gorgeous also has honey in the formula and takes ages to dry ..as I found out to my detriment on our summer break in Devon .. on opening my artist toolkit palette my lovely green had mixed with burnt sienna. Anyway just wanted to say thank you again
I’m so happy it was helpful. Yes, my Sendak has become such an integral part of my travel art practice! I haven’t tried Michael Harding, but like you I have learned the hard way to avoid honey-based watercolours for plein air! 😊
The wooden messenger box from Bluestar crafts is meant to be used standing up. The leather strap goes around your neck or shoulder or something like that. It looks great to use that way. You don’t need a table!
These are great options. I use a Nurse's clipboard that has storage underneath, which is where I carry all the supplies I really need. Best thing was the price at about US $10.
Very interesting Leslie! 🤩👍 Thank you for sharing all your knowledge and experience with us! I really like your calm and friendly way and always relax watching your clips. One question to this one: I know you said you don't explain the tiny ones but may I still ask what this tiny black palette between the ArtToolkit and the Natsume is? That one caught my eye and I couldn't find it in another video... 🙃😊
Thank you for this video!! I saw someone recommended the Taylor Seamount easel, I have it and love it! Thanks to this video I also have the small NatsumeHandMade box as well. When you travel with that one, do you put it in your backpack/bag as is, or do you put it in a bag first? I’m concerned about it coming open, but also getting scratched. Just curious what you do, since you’re obviously a pro at all of this!!
Hi Leslie! Great video and very well done! I wanted to tell you, I have the stablo and the just go sketching setups too and love them both. I too had problems getting the art tool kit palettes to magnetize and not fall off. I mentioned it on one of stablo’s posts and told them that their magnets weren’t strong enough. The maker of them responded to me and said that the art toolkit palettes are not magnetic metal. They are made from aluminum or some kind of non metallic metal. He recommended that I put thin magnets on the bottom of them and that would alleviate the problem. I just wanted to let you know. Maybe that can help you too! I haven’t tried it yet but plan to soon. Anyway, again great video and thank you for making it for us!
You’re welcome! I feel silly for not realising they are aluminum. Bleinham understand why the connection is so weak… it’s coming from the internal magnet on one side only! 😊
I've been curious about the Blue Star Crafts messenger box. The price, however, is fairly steep, and worse, I see apparently identical versions from other companies for substantially less money. My other question is: can you adjust the angle of the slope? It would have to be a little lower for use as a writing slope. Thanks for your wonderful videos!
This was an amazing video-another amazing video, I should say. So much to check out and look into…having trouble deciding. I noticed that the Natsume boxes were on sale. I may start with one of those. Thanks for such an informative, well-organized video.
Wow, that is an impressive collection. I’ve never tried using a clip on water pot because I worry I move around too much and will slosh water all over myself and my painting haha
I bought the same two JustGoSketching boards too 😬. I keep the smaller one constantly in my field case now for when I feel like doing a full page spread and therefore can’t clip my tiny palette the page. I don’t like the (new) clips it comes with because they are sooo tight and I have such a hard time using it. I’ve been into tiny 3D printed palettes, and using a sticky gel pad placed on a clip to attach the palette my sketchbook or board. I could use a little metal plate to make my non magnetic palettes magnetic… But I couldn’t bear to stick an ugly metal thing onto those nice plastic palettes. The sticky pads work with metal palettes too so it’s pretty convenient too. Just that I do use a little piece of plastic to cover the sticky pads when not in use to keep it clean. O.o I have never seen a folding clip board before. Honestly most of the time when I sketch, I only use my sketchbook, with a waterbrush, a tiny palette held to the sketchbook by clips.
Yes, those new clips are awful! I stretched mine out a bit. They are drawing board clips, and I’ve noticed it’s hard to find the old ones at all anymore. It’s probably the same with the magnets. Because he makes them himself, he is likely as limited in the supplies as we are. The boards are definitely useful though! 😊
40:48 Have you tried sticking it into the smaller slit after flipping 90°? If it fits in like that you get a little ledge to hold a non-magnetic palette or just for extra stability. At least it looks like this to me.
FAVORITE: I like a little versatility with the size so possibly the NATSUME or the Ugo 9x12. I am looking for something that I can attach to the tripod.
I think the last box is also good if you move about inside or outside your own home or if you want to take “everything” wherever you travel whether you paint indoors or out. :)
Hi Leslie, what is that round lamp you are using in your desk? My ring light broke and I'm desperately looking for something sturdy and similar, so I don't have the shadow of my hand on the paper when I draw in the evening 😅
I will admit that During VCU art college, our plein air set up that Our professors told us to use were large and so cumbersome and uncomfortable that we couldn't always just pack up and get away from these smelly homeless dudes who decided to wander over to see what we were doing, then decided to stay and keep us company throughout the entire class, and critique our work, so most of the time, If we had to go to the bathroom, we just "held it, and we just went with it and had conversations to our homeless art critics. Again, at age 18, your bladder is stronger and more predictable than it is at age 61!
I have the inexpensive pop up cup with the lid. I put water in the lid to use for my clean water and use the cup for my rinse water. I find that the cup is more stable and sturdy if I leave the bottom unexpanded.
The only thing that concerns me, as a professional artist is having your paint and water attached and even anywhere NEAR your paper or notebook, as I am likely to dribble or spill onto my artwork, which is something I am probably going to do, because I am VERY clumsy!
Don't you ever sit down when you paint!? I get so tired standing up all the time, and I would much rather sit when I paint. I would love to see you do a video on portable chairs like the Artcomber and also, some mahlsticks.
Thanks for sharing your set up but in the first set up, I am a bit 🤔 surprised that they designed the brush holder so the brush is held upside down where water can into the ferrul and damage the paint brushes...😮..
Amazon has them. Look up “fridge magnetic clips.” I’d have added links in the description but they limit how much I can add. 😊 LUCTHY Fridge Magnetic Clips... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BC3VS9ZK?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
