Plein Air Adventure in Toledo, Spain 2025

Recommended list of Supplies for Gretchen’s Plein Air Workshop for  water mixable oils and watercolor-

When it comes to Plein Air painting kits and set-ups, the sky is the limit, here are some set-ups I can recommend.  The main things to consider when selecting- overall weight, easy to set up, keeping it all consolidated:

Portable Easel

1. The Sienna Paint Box- comes in two sizes, with room to house your paint.  With the glass palette it can be a bit heavy, but you can replace the it with a wood palette.  Attaches to a tripod, and is a beautifully finished pochade box.  www.jerrysartarama.com
2. New Wave “The Anywhere” pochade paint box, is fashioned after a laptop computer and is very lightweight and easy to set up and attaches to a tripod.  Comes in 3 sizes, from www.jerrysartarama.com
3. French Easel-this is a cumbersome classic, really best left in the studio, as it is tough to get set up and weighs quite a bit.
4. The Day-Tripper from The Prolific painter.  Many of our favorite plein air artists use this one.  Designed by Joshua Been, this is a lightweight that folds flat and fits into a backpack,  www.prolificpainter.com
5. The Strada easel is very compact, yet a bit heavy.  Makes a good travel easel.  www.stradaeasel.com

I recommend practice setting up your plein air kit or easel before the workshop, then you can get a rhythm going and not be frustrated when you’re ready to paint.

Paint-Water mixable oils:

37ml. tubes-Students, it is really nice to keep things portable and consolidated when you go out on location, purchase small tubes! 

Colors: Titanium white- 2 tubes or large 150ml, 1 tube each- burnt umber, burnt sienna, cadmium red light, alizarin crimson, Ultramarine blue, Viridian, cadmium yellow light, Cadmium yellow medium and a large tube of titanium white.

Painting mediums: For water mixable oils- Water Mixable Oil Painting Medium from Duo Aqua or Artisan- Windsor Newton.

Brushes: synthetic hog bristle- #2 #4 #8 flats, a # 10 flat, cheap 2inch paint brush for backgrounds and toning.  For Bold Brush Painting, be sure to have an 1-1/2 inch house painting brush that has an angled edge, you can even find them at the Dollar Stores, or any Hardware Store!  Definitely have brushes #8 and # 10 flats on hand for this kind of painting!

Soft Synthetic brushes- ½ inch Colada wash, 1inch Colada wash from Creative Mark at Jerry’s Artarama.  These brushes are very inexpensive.

Metal Palette knife- 2 inch blade for mixing paint.  A smaller 1 inch blade for painting. You can also try tools like putty knives, or spatulas to move and sculpt the paint!!!

Canvas panels – 2 each of 8×10, 8×8, 9×12, 11×14, please use canvas panels or paper, stretched canvas is hard to carry.  If you prefer to work in one size for the entire workshop, that is fine!  Don’t feel that you have to complete 2 paintings each day, but it is a good idea to have enough sizes to choose from.  When I paint in traditional oil, I prefer Centurion oil gessoed panels.  But for water mixable oils, the “Universally Primed Panels from Centurion are great.  For Bold Brush  Try Fredrix canvas pads, these are great for exercises, 12×16 or 16×20- be sure to have masking tape so you can secure your canvas sheet to a sturdy board!

-To carry your wet canvas panels, I recommend Panel Paks, they are light weight and allow you to carry two wet panels face to face, for more info go to www.panelpaks.com. For canvas paper, mount each sheet to a piece of thin foam core board with masking tape.   When traveling even if it is close to home, though, Panel Paks are the way to go!

• A container for water plus a smaller container for your painting medium.
• Small sketch journal, soft lead pencils, kneaded erasers, View Catcher
• Paper towels, a bag for trash. 

List of watercolor supplies-

Tube colors- Yellows- Indian yellow or Cadmium yellow medium, Aureolin yellow or lemon yellow, Perinone orange or Mayan Orange- both from Daniel Smith.

Reds- Cadmium red light, Alizarin Crimson, Wild Fuchsia or Opera pink

Earth Tones- Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber

Blues- French Ultramarine, Cobalt blue, and add pthalo blue instead of cerulean….

Sap Green

Neutral tint- Daniel Smith

Pat’s Coastal blue (Cheap Joe’s) or an opaque white (Daniel Smith)

A travel watercolor palette with pan colors will do just fine!

Light weight easel from Jerry’s Artarama for watercolor, this easel is black metal and folds down. It holds a watercolor block too and is a reasonable price. This is a great setup.  You can also choose to only work in your watercolor journal!  Watercolor journals will be provided!

Paper- 140lb cold press 8×10 watercolor block from Arches or Fluid.  If you are painting on separate sheets of paper, be sure to have a board to adhere it to!

Brushes- 1-inch oval wash, 1-1/2 regular wash, ¾ wash, #8 quill mop, #6 script or rigger

• portable watercolor palette to squeeze pigment into
• small container for water
• paper towels or rags.
• view finder
• drawing materials such as a kneaded eraser and mechanical pencil.

 Other Necessities:

Hat, water bottle, sunscreen, allergy medications, plein air umbrella, a small camp stool, cell/i phone and a back pack or trolly to put it all in.  Please keep it portable, and practice setting up!

 Questions?  Contact Gretchen at gretchenlopezart@gmail.com