1. French Box or Field Easel
2. Paints and brushes
3. Palette
4. Canvas or panels
5. Bag or carrying case
6. Brush Bath (for oil) or water container (for acrylic)
7. Viewfinder
8. Paper towels or rags
9. Bag for garbage
10. Hat
11. Umbrella
12. Sunscreen, bug repellent and water

A well prepared and well rounded kit will make your plein air experience even more rewarding! These are our suggestions, many painters carry a bit less, or a few more items (like a folding stool or drawing board). It may be wise to have additional weather appropriate clothing if sudden changes are likely where you'll be painting. If you plan to be out for an extended period of time, be sure to bring along some snacks or pack a full picnic lunch... Good luck, and happy (plein air) painting!

When discussing plein air painting one often thinks first of landscapes, seascapes and paintings of brooks and streams. While all that is exactly right, there are other aspects of plein air beyond subject matter. Painting outside is an excellent opportunity to get fresh air, to enjoy the benefit of beautiful, natural sunlight and to capture fleeting moments on paper or canvas. In this post we'll focus on those very opportunities as Utrecht Resident Artist Joe Gyurcsak walks us through a fun plein air still life painting. Then we'll talk a bit about the sketchbook as a travel/field journal as we used it to document Joe's day out in the field.

We set out on a perfect day for painting outside, mid 70's with a slight breeze and a clear sky. Joe got right to work setting up his paint kit and still life, then used a viewfinder to compose his image on the canvas.

Here you can see Joe has his field box set up to easily view the still life without having to move around much or crane his neck. Also take note that the palette is set up vertically. Color mixing is much more accurate when the palette and canvas are on the same plane and receive the same direct light source.

Joe began with a simple line drawing to set up his composition on the panel, then began blocking in the shadow areas of the painting. When working with natural light, shadows will move as the your light source (the sun) does, so it's best to establish your shadow areas first and stick with them thoughout the painting.

Now all the dark areas have been blocked in and Joe can start bringing in that beautiful bright yellow. This is also a great shot of the vertical palette making it easier for Joe to accurately mix his colors, he's got the panel, palette and and still life all within one sightline.

Joe has his brush fully charged and ready to fill in the fabric area of the painting. He starts with a rough fill of the areas, adjusting the value appropriately as he works around the canvas. Now the the painting is at a point where everything is established and the composition can be judged for style and accuracy.

At this point Joe is refining the details and making small adjustments in value and color. It's the time in the painting where edges can be sharpened or blurred and a few brush strokes can tie it all together.

Ta Da! Joe's final still life study and nice look at detail Joe included. (Click for larger image.) So next time you're in the mood to paint, think about setting up an outdoor still life. It's a great excuse to enjoy beautiful weather and paint with natural light!

Another great plein air activity is the field journal. It's a much more portable endeavor and can be used as a diary, travel log or a place to do small studies for future paintings. We chose a Moleskine Watercolor Folio, Winsor Newton Cotman Mini Watercolor Set, Utrecht Travel Watercolor Brush Set and a Micron Drawing pen for this excercise. A bottle of water and some paper towels rounded out the kit.

While Joe was hard at work on his still life we put together a loose pen drawing to capture the composition and pose (Joe moves a LOT when he paints). This drawing was done while standing and holding the sketchbook, but it may be wise to bring a portable stool and a small drawing board if you know you'll be out doing longer drawings...

Like Joe, we painted in the shadows first employing a greyish tone made of raw sienna and ultramarine, then began laying in color washes over top. The image above shows the process about halfway through. Once the colors are blocked in you can begin to refine the details and punch up the colors. (You can see Joe is still just the grey underpainting).

Once satisfied with the drawing it was time to add some text. Thoughts on the day as well as the date, time and location round out our journal page. This was much easier to do, back sitting at a desk and provided time to ponder and design the rest of the sketchbook spread. One of the great things about the sketchbook or field journal is the ability to personalize each page, it can contain a few notes, a story from your trip or no text at all, just beautiful drawings!

Joseph Paquet, while pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York, had the good fortune of finding a mentor in John Foote who opened his eyes to the joys of drawing the human figure. After graduating, Joe met another major influence in his life, John Osborne, who was uniquely gifted in producing convincing landscape paintings from memory. Osborne believed a landscape painting should begin on location, but that its poetic essence should be completed in the solitude of the artist’s studio. Paquet experienced a demanding and rewarding apprenticeship, in which he learned to fuse field studies with the image he could see in his mind’s eye. To summarize this experience, he explains, “The intellectual process became married to the intuitive. Paint what you know well as what you see.” He goes on to expand the possibilities, “If I have the need or desire to move a mountain, add a figure or change the course of a river, I can do so. I am no longer shackled to nature. Now, I am painting my picture.” Paquet teaches and paints at Hurinenko and Paquet Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He has been featured in an October 1995 article in the Washington Post Sunday Magazine, the May 2002 issue of The Artist Magazine, the March 2004 issue of American Artist and the July 2005 issue of Plein Air Magazine. Paquet’s recent awards include both Artists’ Choice and Collectors’ Choice from the 2007 Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational as well as the 2008 Alden Bryan Memorial Prize from the Salmagundi Club of New York and the First Place in Landscape from the Richeson 75: Artist’s Choice Competition. Paquet is a Signature Member of the Plein Air Painters of America, The Salmagundi Club and an Out-of-State Artist Member of the California Art Club.

See a sampling of Joe's work below, and see more on his website: www.joepaquet.com

See more of Joe's Paintings on his website: www.joepaquet.com