My biggest suggestion is paint simple familiar things. If you want to paint outside you could paint right outside your back door. Until you’re comfortable with setting up all of your equipment and framing out a nice composition, outside your own door is ideal. You can paint the little pond in your backyard. You can paint the flowers in your own garden. You don’t need to do a gigantic vista in order to have a beautiful painting. Many times especially when beginning, simple is better. I’ve seen people search and search for just the perfect thing to paint. Walking all over the place and can’t find anything. When they passed 50 perfect little things to paint.
@@marquis08 urban landscapes are incredible. Buildings or parts of buildings, tiny scraps of green in the middle of concrete, cars, and people, are all great subjects.
Thank you for posting these videos. I've been painting for a few years but you've finally inspired me to take the plunge and head out into the world with my gear. Mostly, though, I wanted to say that, besides being useful and informative, I find your videos relaxing and fun, and a great positive way to wind-down at the end of the day.
My family and I venture out on Sunday afternoons to paint. I paint something and they enjoy the Texas landscape. It's really a fun way to be outside together.
Really great information, Michael. I’ve only painted outdoors a few times, (usually my gardens) but I love it! Some of the things you mentioned in another video about being very self conscious, apply to me, so I’ve also been setting up some still life outside just to get more comfortable with the process and to figure out exactly what I might be missing in my kit. It seems to be helping. I’m getting more and more excited about the adventure and experience of it. Thanks for all the encouragement and tips! 👍
Thanks again Micheal!! I also found that when I was first starting that it was very important to paint a composition that was not very complex, and that was not very intimidating to begin with. Even as someone who has some experience in Plein air painting, this was good to watch!
stuck at home here as well...Snowed today and cold..!! can't wait to get out and pleinair.paint again!!...one thing we can do during this covid-19!!!!!
I see some counties in your general area are in lock down for the Coronavirus. Wishing good health. Stay safe, paint alone or at least 6 ft away! All the best.
I've been painting with oils for about 9 months now, and I really wanted to begin painting plein air with them. Thank you so much for this video!! Extremely helpful! :)
Just found you and this video today and it's really good advice. I'm a hobby painter and finally feeling brave enough to do plein air. Ordered and received my french easel and I love it. Have not used it yet but enjoying packing it up. Your economical suggestions are very helpful. I decided to take my water mixable oils with me when we go camping this week at the lake mainly because the smell of the oil paints will be too much when I have to bring the wet paintings in the motor home at night. Not sure if you've done a video on water mixable oils?....anyway, thanks for sharing these great tips. Btw, I found the french easel for $68 on Amazon (search 7 Elements french easel) and it's surprisingly well made if anyone is looking for one that's cheap.
That's really helpful. I use soft pastels at the moment, and I love plein air (bringing camera with me to film it adds to the gear though!) But I'd really like to try oils too, it's handy to see what you think the essentials are.
thanks! im an experienced painter but in this pandemic have been asked to make some digital instructive content. seeing whats around the internet already! also have been outside painting more. love the pvc pipe idea 🙌
Excellent advice. Some very valuable tips for beginner and seasoned painters. Very generous of you. Thank you. There is some old school painters, like Gruppe' and Thieme and Hibbard, in you.
Great video! Thanks! Just starting. Really like your panel holder you attached to the tripod. Also making a trifold paint box to use with a camera stand I already own. I use linseed oil and squares of junk mail to clean my brushes. The medium I've been using is a mix of Lavender Groso and Stand oil. Mostly paint straight out of the tube.
Michael, You covered it all . I did oils long before watercolor, and how I would have appreciated your videos back then. I’m in the coronavirus ‘high risk ‘ category. (Way into it) 🤪 so that was a very long time ago. I still dabble in it once in a while. So thanks for all you do. Tallahassee, Fl.
I tried to make the video I would have wanted to see when I began plein air painting. Glad you think I covered it well! I wish you health and peace. I'm staying away from news for a while and focusing on painting. 😊
great advice, that tripod fitting looks good, not sure if I can get one in New Zealand, I have a home made easel and a table top easel, I love plain air painting, even in the winter on a good day.
Very watchable and useful, even though I am an experienced plein air painter. ( though maybe not such a good one, lol) I use both a homemade pochade with a homemade shelf and a french easel (which I also started with) depending on how big I am painting and how far i have to lug it. I also do watercolor and pastel- which are different set ups of course. I do like the folding palette and panel holder and may try that next. One thing I haven't seen is the PVC brush holder. Seems very practical. I use a canvas brush holder. Thanks!
good! Yeah, the french easel is heavy, I used it once, cause It was not me, It was borrowed from a teacher. By that, I prefer my set up like yours. It is more confortable to hang it out. And yes, I have troubles at the beginning, like you were mentioned. My first palette was a a4 note board in a box, jajaja It´s funny to me, cause right now i have a better palette. Your channel help me a lot of set up. Thanks so much! :)
You can actually leave the paint on your palette on a French easel! It has a holder in the lid which holds the palette down which in turn keeps stuff falling our from the little slit in the drawer and that holder keeps the palette from moving so the space between the lid and palette surface is about half an inch thick. Plenty space for pretty big piles of paint.
I love your videos, during the pandemic, it really helped. Thank you for posting and sharing. I have watched this video, and several other videos, you seem so organized and unstoppable. I have worried about picking the right time of day, the right place, the right sun screen or bug spray, and image myself trying to get the gloves on realizing that my hands are slick and tacky from too much lotion or bug spray and ripping thru several pairs of gloves before I can even get an idea of a composition. I wonder if you have a routine that you follow (to avoid crazy messes with paint) and do you have a painting day of the week or hour of the day that you prefer to plein air. Am I over thinking it? LOL. Also, I have questions about french box easel. Most videos say that the cheap french box easels break a lot, do you think that it is possible to 'reinforce' legs and avoid breakage. Thanks for all you do!
I don’t really have a painting schedule. I usually go when weather conditions are favorable! As for the French easel, I’ve been able to fix mine with screws and glue. It’s a little wobbly but it still works!
this video was so helpful! Where did you purchase the wet painting carrier? I looked online and can't seem to find a similar one anywhere-I like that it's nothing too fancy-a lot of them in my search are wood and I just need a basic one like the red one!
Very informative video - thanks!! Question about that PVC tube to hold your brushes- Do you cap the ends off or jusr stuff rags in the tube ti stop your brushes from rattling around?
You don't need turpentine for regular oil paints. Just use safflower oil. Google Toxic free oil painting and you will learn how to rinse brushes in walnut oils or safflower oil and when needed, clean your brushes with soap. No toxic solvents needed (Solvents weren't invented until the 1920s for cleaning, not for painting; the old masters never used them. .
Michael this just popped up and I’m needing to find a good tripod to hold my Alla Prima Pochade Box. The Yellowstone. Please suggest I have a Bonfoto. It’s fair at best.
Hi do you have glass in the palette box or just mix on wood? I've never mixed on wood i dont understand if it works/cleans up the same (I want to make that palette box lol its perfect)
I recently got a new En Plein Air Pro. I love it! Everything the Colter has and more, at half the weight and very well made. I paint with a slightly modified Zorn set of colors (adding Ultra Blue and Hobein Veridian Hue). PVC tube I capped one end for brushes. The easel comes with a jar for thinner. Ar nearly 80 Y.O. I really like this set up. Everything in one smallish bag ot back pack.
I used the tripod set up in Paris and painted 14x18 inch panels. I walked and used public transport. No car. No problem. These are just suggestions, you’re going to have to figure out what works for you.
Mike you will have to go out less and stay home cause this virus is making a big mess, people have no idea or don't want to have but it's very very contagious and no country has enough hospital beds for the raising amount of people getting infected.
chamberlainpaintings Im fine thanks, weirdly enough I catched a seasonal cold this last weekend beside the sea, it was very windy but the thing is I've heard today our president will confine us for 45 days so hard times are coming. I'll have to go to a 24/7 grocery store at 2 AM because Im guessing supermarkets are going to be packed as hell. This is a mess. If I stay home 3 months I'll definitely go back to paint. You take care.
350$ for that tiny flat wooden box thing.. that is absurdly overpriced lol. Pochade boxes are one thing but that is just a flat piece of wood with a couple of hinges :O yikes!
