How I setup my Etchr Slate Mini - for watercolor, gouache & drawing outside ✶ customizations & tips 

Thank you so much 😊 stay warm!

That’s great!

Hide in plain sight with a hat and some headphones 🙃

No problem 👍

Glad you found this helpful! I love mine, I use it all the time. The more I use it, the more I prefer setting it on a tripod, but that is not always possible. So I just use it both ways.

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you!

All the supplies are listed in the blog post

Glad I could help!

I think that’s half the fun! If I owned lots of power tools I’d also learn how to sew and make a very custom kit 🤩

@@SarahBurnsStudio exactly true!😘

It’s not for everyone! That’s for sure

Good idea with the spice tin!

😂

Lol! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do

Ohh great tips thank you!

Yea I only suggest standing with it if you're kinda desperate or doing lots of fast sketches in different locations (very convenient for urban sketching). Otherwise definitely worth the effort to have the tripod

Very useful!

I can't seem to find them individually here :(

@@SarahBurnsStudio i was sure I got mine from Jackson’s but I dont see them now, however if you search for the Pro Arte pocket brushes they have a filbert and a flat pocket brush available on Jackson’s and I’ll keep looking for you! We will sort this for ya!

@@SarahBurnsStudio Blick has the Richeson Grey Matters ones I recommended first if they will ship where you are…so does Jerry’s Artarama, again if they ship to you. I’m not sure who does or doesn’t besides Jackson’s I think they ship on your side of the pond. I’m in the States.

@Pantalonious Due to brexit most places stopped shipping to us 😥 I'm going to send Jacksons a message to see if they could maybe order some

Hahaha...I never noticed that! 🤣

@@SarahBurnsStudio honestly you probably couldn't have set it up better! The timing was perfect and just subtle enough for kookie people like me 🤪

I'm sure you could sell yours!

@@SarahBurnsStudio yes, that is a good idea.-)!

My tripod is an OBO 300 but it isn't made for heavy pochade boxes

Thanks!

Thanks for sharing, I have the Escoda ones but was looking for flat brushes for ages!!! Didn’t know that brand!

Thank you!

Just some painters tape on the back side of the mixing area 🙂

If you look at my blog post you can see how I use the hard cover A5 Etchr sketchbook in this

@@SarahBurnsStudio Cool, thanks Sarah, I just went through your blog then. I'm just blown away how much helpful information you provide to everyone. Thank you so much.

Sarah, have you tried Grey Matter travel brushes from Richelson (Dick Blick art)

No I just started seeing those being suggested

What do you mean by "artist experience?" Here's a little more about my journey: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zymYcC4TYHI.html

To be honest I prefer it down on the side. Nothing is loose in there since it has all the elastics. And when it’s down it feels waaayyyy more stable. I would not want to deal with a huge flat surface

Lol! The weather has been shite lately so I’ve been recording some fun videos that require less effort. Enjoy it while it lasts 🥲 I used my new Schmincke and the Shinhan gouache plus black and quin mag

@@SarahBurnsStudio lol I will 😜🎨🤘

We had big fluffy snow yesterday, which was a lovely surprise. But it's all melted today.

I just weighed it, and with my toned paper spiral sketchbook, the water container, all the brushes and pens I showed, and my portable painter micro, the whole thing weighs 4.4 lb. When I wear it around my shoulder it feels super light, it's lighter than taking my backpack...but maybe that's because if you give me room, I'll fill it! LOL so the limited space means I pack efficiently and go out with a focus.

I'm super picky about my flat brushes (too stiff and they scratch the gouache, too soft and they don't allow strong brush strokes)..where would you rate the Casaneo in that sense?

@@SarahBurnsStudio Casaneo is definitely soft.

I've been trying to answer on and off all day, I'm having such difficulties with my RU-vid comments lately, don't know what's up with that. 🤦 Since I have barely begun using gouache I experimented a bit with different brushes after your comment. I would say it's on the softer side, but works great on a smooth surface, it's a bit harder to get a bold stroke on textured paper but it still looks nice to me. It's hard to tell what's too soft for you though! I compared it with a Silver Black Velvet flat brush, which is softer and holds much more water, and is more difficult to get a bold stroke with. I also compared it with a Joe Miller Pseudo Sable flat brush, which is decidedly harder and holds less water, it worked well on a textured paper but started to show streaks on a smoother paper. So I'd say the Casaneo might be worth trying out? Perhaps you have tried one of the brushes I compared it to and it might help you get an idea? I hope this helped! ☺️

@@hannahthufvesson Ahhh OK, I could have sworn I saw your response but then when I clicked on it, it was gone. Thank you for taking time to answer!! I really do appreciate your insights, it's very valuable. It sounds like a good middle-of-the-road brush

@@SarahBurnsStudio That's so frustrating!! 🤦 Well I'm glad if it helped! If you try it it would be cool to see how You find it! So much is personal preference, but it's also very helpful to hear from someone with a lot of experience what they find works well for different techniques ☺️

No, It comes with the tripod attachment built in (the hole) so any standard tripod connects easily - but what I did was buy an extra tripod head and I leave it permanently on there

Good to know!

That is my favourite flat brush too for gouache! I bought a travel set whith short hadle on the brushes and I öiked them so much I plan to buy some regular ones and just shorten the handles. I normally only like sable brushes as I crave control but these are the first synthetic brushes I have really liked and felt I can control, all other synthetics have been too floppy or have lost their point in a few weeks.

@@SUSSDUE I bought that travel set too and love it. The short handle ones are sized differently but just as snappy. They are on sale right now at Jerrys artarama. I just bought more!

All the supplies I use are listed in the blog post :) I do also have a super thin tarp I sometimes bring (It folds down to a size of "travel tissues") - I usually only bring that if I'm going to the beach or if it's not windy

@@SarahBurnsStudio Sarah, oops! I looked at the Uk Amazon link and didn't see it, because I used it to find out what to put in on Amazon France. I've just scrolled right through to the end of the very small print on the UK site (it's the very last paragraph!) and found it. A tarp that folds to 'travel tissues'? Wow!

I bought mine at REI. I put a link in the description with all my supplies

I do have a couple of their oil brushes. I may look into that!

Sorry, can you clarify your question?

No I just find shade

No, but you can just buy them from ebay or something, they easily attach to the metal rings on the bag :)

Thank you!

Yes, I do that all the time.

I will do a video about my gouache travel palette when the weather gets a little better :) But yes it's leak proof and so perfect for me. No there's not a "slot" for drying paintings in this setup.

No this doesn’t have issues when the lid hands down, mainly because my tripod is sturdy, and when I’m standing it’s even more stable because it can be folded under and clipped in place so it’s not hanging. Even fully loaded the whole thing is about 4.3 lbs

@@SarahBurnsStudio Thanks, Sarah. :)

I have two - one is a cheap but slightly heavy “amazon” tripod that someone gifted me, and then I have my lightweight SIRUI AM-225 I prefer the lightweight one if I’m hiking, but if I’m ‘car painting’ not walking far from the car, I use the heavier one because it’s more stable.

Thank you for your reply I appreciate you taking the time it's very generous of you. You are a wonderful artist and I love watching your videos 😊

Mine is the Slate Mini satchel and it’s the only one I have experience with. You might want to ask someone who has tried the other ones

The big art satche IS heavy! I have it and it is very useful if you travel and want to bring half the studio and either sit at a table or sit w it in your lap. But to use it standing it is far too heavy for me, for using it standing w thestraps over your shoulders you have to be a big muscular guy 😉. My husband has the normal Slate and it is ok, but now when I finally have got myself a Slate Mini I have to say that it is a perfect size unless you want to work bigger than A4. Neither of the Slates are lightweight ( but neither is as heavy as the Art Satchel) so if weight is important I would suggest go for the Mini. I also think the smaller size is better, at least for me, because I will not be tempted to bring stuff ” just in case” and carry around things I might not use when out sketching. It still has a lot of space for art materials! One thing that is good w the Art Satchel is that it is easy to attach a tripod or other stuff on the front with the ” molle” attachments ( some kind of military phrase for attaching different bags to each other)-I think the youtuber The Mind of Watercolor has a good review where he shows that system w the Satchel. The Slates does not have that option so you have to find another way to carry tripods or other extra stuff you want to bring. Oh yes another good option w the Art Satchel is that you can carry it as a backpack and ease the strain on your shoulders. I actually plan to take the Art Satchel straps and use them to carry the Mini as a backpack. It will be a bit more hassle to quckly bring it into skeching mode but it will be better for my shoulders and back. The Satchel straps are also better padded than the ones on the Slates. But that is only an option if you have both Satchel and Slate, the strap on the Slate has a nice removable pad on it that is absolutely allright to use!

@@SUSSDUE Thank you for the information! For now I think I'll just stay with my lightweight backpack. You and Sarah brought out a great point: The most important thing is to get out there and create. For me, the simplier I keep things, the more I use them.

It's a Stillman & Birn

@@SarahBurnsStudio Which one? Beta or Zeta? Thanks!

@@SarahBurnsStudio Also…where you live is sooo beautiful! You are very lucky to be living so close to such beauty! I wish I could paint with you…

@@SarahBurnsStudio Sorry …one more thing. Which spiral bound sketchbook would you suggest for Gouache?

@@artfoolei Nova series

I can only speak for myself, but I am sooooooo happy with my setup that I was happy to save up and pay the price. Especially with a tripod it makes my plein air life much better

They are drawing board clips

Not unless you build some kind of arm

It snows off and on but usually melts fast

There is a pre-drilled hold for all standard tripod plates. Tripods come with their own plates :)

@@SarahBurnsStudio thank you!

Mine is not ultra sturdy. If I vigorously scribble, it will shake. But mostly I don’t do that. And I can easily ‘rest’ my left hand on the left edge when scribbling is required.

@@SarahBurnsStudio understood. I have 2 different ones, both are pretty sturdy but I have some wobble at the connecting point. I have all the knobs and levers strung as tightly as I can get them, but there is still a little wobble. I can work with it, but I would prefer it to be completely stable

The gouache cover could easily go under the mixing space (lid)