Getting Ready for En Plein Air again

After reading Brenda Swenson's wonderful blog (you can find her link in my favorites) about her favorite bag...I had to get one too. (She says they are called "Brenda's Bag" by her workshop participants!)

I probably have 4 or 5 bags that I use for different purposes now. This one is dedicated to watercolor and is packed for an all-morning (or all-day sketch). As opposed to the quick sketch bag I might use for a the half hour sketch you might get when you are traveling.

(note: I also have a bag for acrylics en plein air).

Since they are heavier to carry I use a backpack for that and using carry an easel.

With both bags I carry a super white artist's umbrella which I think is a must. But if you go to Brenda's blog she has a WONDERFUL long and helpful list of what to bring with you. One thing she does not have that I have found to be amazingly neat...is a folding stool that fits RIGHT into this bag. It is the red object with the metal bars you see behind the little red box in the photo here. (see info and photo of the stool below).

Here is the other side of the bag.

I have my brushes on this side.

I am still fussing about what kind of sketch books to take along. I love my Moleskins but am thinking I might like to try making my OWN sketchbooks like Brenda does. She takes them to Staples or Office Depot and has them spiral bound. I don't have that option located as I am in summer in the middle of no where. So for now I am going to cut the wc paper to size and use a bull dog clip to a piece of stiff mat board. Then I can bind them together later. Brenda's favorite choice of paper for en plein air wc is Bockingford paper (140# rough). I am an Arches girl myself but I thought maybe I'd try a few of her choice too. See if I like it. I have been using cold press for so long...but I do like rough too.

Here is that little stool I showed you in the first photo all folded up in my bag. You just can not believe how sturdy these are and how tiny they fold up!!!

I picked up two of them at a garage sale in Florida in April. The little case they came in said "Don Leitow Chevrolet Inc" on it. So I googled this and found someone with that name. I wanted to share if there was a "source" on these chairs for my blog followers. I got an email back from Don Leitow's grandson who is now a Toyota dealer in Michigan! He says they were factory give aways! And he does not know how to get them...surely out of production now...but there must be a ton of them "floating" around? If they were not tossed! He was so fascinated that these had turned up and in such good shape!!! (Ya gotta love garage sales!) If anyone else out there has seen these, let me know! En Plein Group here in the north woods will be on Thursday mornings and they have already started without me! This week we will be at Lake of the Falls on the Turtle River. Weather looks "passable"...74 and sunny.