plein-air-with-gouache

I guess serendipity describes what happened with my crayola paleto that now changes the way I will plein air with gouache 🤔🤭

A couple years ago I created a homemade plein air paleto after I discovered that my winsor & Newton gouache was rewettable.

It was an amazing discovery because it was also my first exposure to gouache as a painting medium. 👩🏿‍🎨🎨 my crayola paleto of fancy gouache served me well these last few years, but it just decided to retire. 🤣😅 we’ll talk more about that in a bit.

one urban sketching essential I tried to diy was a folding board to place my paleto and watercolor paper on top of.

About two years ago, I discovered a YouTube channel called Following the white rabbit.🐰🐰 She instantly became one of my favorite artists on YouTube because I luv her loose and free art style. ❤️❤️ she also has a very unique urban sketching/Plein air setup. 

 

She uses a folding board that she made herself and clips her paint and paper to it! so last year I tried to create that but with cardboard. While I did get the shape right, it wasn’t very practical as it was too flimsy. 😅

my-first-failed-attempt-at-a-folding-board

This past week, I got back on the saddle to make my own folding board. 🙌🏿 This time, I followed her instructions step by step, and also used coroplast like she suggested. 🤩💪🏿

It turned out beautiful!!! 😉🥰 I was so proud of myself. 👍🏿

I created my own urban sketching diy with an old crayola paleto ✨✨✨

When I was twelve years old, my mama surprised me with a whole Lotta artistic Christmas presents. We didn’t get presents often, so I knew all this art stuff was super special from her.

 

My favorites were the tempera watercolors. 🖌️🖼️ But I also got this crayola box of watercolors. 

 

Fast forward to 2019ish and my gouache discovery; I tossed out the remaining crayola paint and customized the paleto box to suit me. 🎨👩🏿‍🎨

This crayola paleto has done so much for me. 😇😇 It is super portable and lightweight. It has been a blast using it. 😍

 

I tried to make it magnetic so that I can clip it to my new folding board. That way I could paint outside. 

 

But after I glued two metal keys to the back of my paleto, as well as after I finally found some heavy duty magnets to clip it properly…

 

my hinge cracked. 😱😰

Yep. My hinge broke off. I tried to fix it, but nothing worked. 😥 I was so sad because I had just figured out how to clip it properly for on the go painting. 💔

 

This turned into a bit of a serendipitous moment, because I realized that maybe now was time to get a metal paleto box that normally houses watercolor. 🧐🤗 

 

So I purchased some watercolors in a metal box that will be coming next week. 🥳🥳🥳

 

I bought a small tin of watercolors because after looking at the prices of an empty pretty tin, I figured I would get the best bang for my buck by just buying a watercolor set that came in a tin. 🤷🏿‍♀️ I settled on the 12 set of Paul Rubens watercolors and I do plan to decorate the pink tin when it arrives. (not an affiliate link)

 

 I will move the watercolors into a studio paleto I made last year so that I can try them when I’m ready, and I will keep the gouache in the metal box. 👩🏿‍🎨🎨

 

Plus, I have my own method of storing gouache to where it doesn’t crack. So a tin is perfect for me!

I have also been working on a diy sketchbook watercolor because of following the white rabbit 🥰

Using my own watercolor ground, I started priming my pages. Following the white rabbit recommends not binding the pages into a full book until you feel done with a particular series. 👍🏿

 

She normally binds hers after her urban sketching symposium trips. She says to not fully bind books because they are very heavy. I have a super thick sketchbook and I can fully attest to how heavy it feels. 😪

I cannot wait to finish these pages. It is a fun process but I really wanna go outside and paint! 👩🏿‍🎨🏃🏿‍♀️🏕️ We haven’t had the best weather these last few weeks  storms and tornaders  but hopefully the weather will get better soon so that I can paint outside!💛💜💚💙🧡❤️

Video timestamps ~~~

00:00 theme song and intro

03:36 my old folding board

13:29 my new folding board

17:56 what happened to my paleto?

31:18 watercolor paper for plein air/urban sketching sketchbook

34:18 outro and bible verses

  • April 16, 2021
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