I'm trying out a new box kit. I want be able to go on walks and hikes with art supplies and make sudden studies or even finished paintings as I go and not have to stop for long to set up and work. I want to complete a composition in less than 30 mins. In some cases less than 2! I want the sketch to be the substitute for the camera. The idea is to have something self contained that's light, fast and ez to set up for doing my Walk-and-Sketch trips. I rarely have more than an hour and always want to have several compositions when I'm done. Part of the objective is to be able to make bigger paintings from studies and not have to rely on painting from photos. But I also want to have finished paintings or at least a good start on something saleable. At some point I decided that trying to copy photos into paint was absurd for me. I like doing things with photos and they can be good for reference but I"d rather be looking at the real scene and pushing paint around. I want to be inspired by the actual landscape. Since I rarely sit down to paint outdoors, I need something light I can hold. I don't want to carry a tripod or a chair. I'm just going on a walk. I have made several "kits", 3 of which I currently use. They consist of small carry bags and waist packs with a special hand held easel I designed and made from Coroplast. They work great for 5 x 7 or 8 x 6 studies with graphite and chalk, Elegant writers, watercolors, gouache, and Inktense Blocks, or watercolor pencils. I use the water brush pens to blend and loosen the media. No clean up and no water to carry except a small spray bottle. Fast, easy and light. The thing I'm missing is a way to do an oil painting this way. Setting up to do an oil painting is time consuming, there is a lot of stuff to carry, and the process can be messy. So I made this box for 5 x 7 and 8 x 6 to use oil sticks on oil paper. I also made a companion wet carry box that can hold up to 8 paintings and is 2 inches thick. It adds less than a pound to the kit but is necessary if I'm going to attempt more than one painting.

This paint box is made from an old 7 x 9 inch cedar, smoked salmon box gifted from my sister Les many years ago. I wanted to try oil sticks because they are like Crayons and I can do a painting with one hand and hold the box with the other. Color mixing happens on the canvas so no brushes to clean or knives to carry. The box weighs less than 2 pounds but with paint it's almost 3 so I made it tripod and mono pod ready. For this maiden voyage I brought the mono pod.

This was my first trip out with this box. It was a really hot day and I was having a hard time getting my nerve up to try this so I walked around a bit and made some other sketches. It never hurts to warm up.

This was the first sketch I did. This is with a dark wash pencil and Liquid Chalk (white) and a water brush on 5 x 7 Fabriano 90 lb watercolor paper. This has been one of my go to sketching tools. I can get a quick value study on plain or toned paper. Plus it's much needed practice with drawing. This scene is actually the same location I was in when I did the oil stick version later in the day. This view is slightly more to the right and back from the oil painting scene below

I walked around a bit and came to this view. One of my favorites at the Sweetwater Park. I have done a couple of paintings of this stand of trees. This one is with Derwent Inktense blocks I use the blocks directly and indirectly with the wet brush. ( mentioned these in a previous blog)

I finally settled on going back to the shelter near the entrance and set up in the shade. The box is shown here in front of my scene. You can see the full size oil sticks. These things are heavy so for the next trip I'll bring some cut down versions and I'll be able to add more colors for the same weight or cut the weight and stick with 6 or 7 colors and white

This painting will get some slight work in the studio to fix the composition a bit. I don't like the center mass of grass being so symmetrical. Once dry, I'll mount it permanently on a 6 x 8 panel for framing. It can also be mounted in a mat and framed behind glass.

"June Afternoon" oil sticks on oil paper. Temporarily matted to see how it looks cropped to 8 x 6. This is a white mat (it looks a little pink on my screen)