When diving into the world of Plein Air Painting, it can feel overwhelming. I’m getting ready for a painting trip overseas this fall and needed a great way to cart around my tools AND be able to paint anywhere that might strike me.
The more challenging piece to figure out is finding a set up that is lightweight and easy to carry around. Thankfully, I found the lightest setup that’s easy to carry and functional and thankfully, fits in my backpack I already have!
So, let’s walk through each piece together! Links below are amazon affiliate links and a small commission may be earned.
The Backpack:
My backpack was discontinued as I purchased it many years ago, but this one is very similar and would work swimmingly to carry this plein air setup.
Something I always look for in a backpack is a side water bottle pocket, as those seem to hold my tripod perfectly without taking up room on the inside.
Tripods are another thing I went round and round with until I found this one. It folds up TINY, is very lightweight but my favorite feature is the ball head that makes it easy to adjust my easel at funky angles depending on where I’m at. My second favorite feature is the clip on the inside, where I can clip my backpack or clip supplies. It’s HANDY. This tripod is hands down the best tripod I’ve used so far and I’ll never go back to any of the others.
The Pochade:
The New Wave UGo Pochade Box is the best pochade I’ve found. It’s lightweight and very flat, folding up like a laptop and sliding down actually into my laptop sleeve in my backpack. My tripod attachment attaches to the bottom and I leave it attached for convenience. I just have to set up my tripod, click it in and open her up, and I’m ready to paint.
The great thing about this pochade box is that it comes with a mixing palette, however, I use palette paper (because I love to be able to just throw it away at the end of a session) and not clean it. BUT you can get accessories like a glass palette insert, rubber bands (I have these and they’re fantastic) and hooks, so you can secure all your supplies to your palette and they won’t blow away.
One of the great things about this set up is that it’s all done with magnets. The site tables just click in and you can secure other magnetic things to your setup like a magnetic phone holder or clip.
This pochade box comes in three sizes, small, medium, and large. I have the medium and it’s the perfect size to cart around and I can paint up to 11×14 really easily and larger too, but I’ve found it’s the sweet spot.
The Accessories:
I’ve accumulated quite a few accessories to help make painting in plein air a bit easier!
I’ve got two tray tables (make sure you get the larger tray tables if you’re purchasing the larger sized pochade box.)
The New Wave UGo wet panel carrier (sometimes I paint in oils and this is what I use to carry wet panels). The Wet Panel Carrier comes in two sizes, Medium and Large.
The New Wave Anywhere Cinch and Carabiner Set This set seems slightly non-impactful, however these bands are perfectly sized for the trays or the pochade box itself and hold things down in a good breeze or help hold everything together when packing it all up. I use the carabiner to hold my water can under the pochade box and out of the way. Truly, these are a game changer for the pochade box.
Palette Paper This palette paper by Jack Richeson is great for the palette of the pochade box, AND it’s grey toned, which can help alleviate harsh reflecting light from white palette paper. I get the 6×9, though it comes in a nice 12×16 as well, but the 6×9 nestles down great into the medium sized pochade palette.
It also comes in a 3 pack, which I do get because I go through a LOT of palette paper.
Easel Brush Clip This easel brush clip holds several brushes while I’m painting (and helps prevent messes if they roll off) I love this clip and I clip it down below my pochade box on my tripod. It works great!
Kiss Off Stain Remover Stick Hands down, this is the best stain remover ever in life. Tide and Shout need to move over. I found this once in an art store, I’d never heard of it, but needed one while I was out and OH MY GOSH. It’s the best stain remover stick I’ve ever used. EVER.
I got Golden Open acrylic paint ALL over my shirt and it took it right off, after it had dried. I tried a shout wipe and it wouldn’t budge and then I tried kiss off and it took it off so easily, I threw my shout wipes away and started carrying this around in my purse for regular life too.
Want to see the rest of my plein air must haves? They’re all easy to shop on my amazon store here.
