Easel Types:
-French easel- heavy and large to carry, but stable
-Field Easel- lightweight and compact, but need to be weighed down for stability
-Pochade Box- Stable and useful, most require a tripod, and they can be expensive
You are free to bring any setup that you already have or are comfortable with, but remember that you may have to carry it a little ways to the painting location from the parking lot. I would recommend trying out your setup before class, even if just in your own yard
Since we will be starting with smaller pieces, the simplest setup is just a compact folding chair, like listed below, and a watercolor sketchbook and your gouache paints and brushes.
My gouache plein air set up is sometimes as simple as just a small chair, my paints and brushes, and a rigid panel that I tape my watercolor paper to, and hold. The above options are great for easing comfort and efficiency, and are highly recommended in the long run, but if you’re on a budget, you can get by without them.
Resources: You can google all these and find great options
Field Easel: I’ve used a Napoli easel for several years, it was cheap and simple, found it at cheap joe's art
Pochade box: Open Box M, Strada Easel, Edge Pro easel, Guerilla Painter, New Wave pochade. I currently use a Strada Easel with a tripod. You can also bring a basic setup and get recommendations and ideas from the other students.
Read this article for more: https://www.outdoorpainter.com/best-plein-air-easels-for-artists/
Brushes- soft, water media brushes. I tend to use soft synthetic brushes. Make sure you have a good variety of sizes.
*A brush carrying case is very helpful:
https://smile.amazon.com/JTDEAL-Storage-Acrylic-Watercolor-Gouache/dp/B06X93CZ2F/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TVWFOSUDS680&dchild=1&keywords=paint+brush+carrying+case&qid=1589042728&sprefix=paint+brush+carr%2Caps%2C235&sr=8-1
Paper Towel, blue shop towels are best
Jars or containers for your water.
Apron or clothes you don’t mind getting paint on.
Trash bag for dirty rags
140 lbs watercolor paper, small sheets or
6” x 9” or 7” x 10” Watercolor sketchbook
Any watercolor palette will work, I usually use just a metal tray and put my paints out on a wet paper towel.
I have used this one in the past too:
https://www.amazon.com/Mijello-Airtight-Watercolor-18-Well-Palette/dp/B0049UZEWQ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=watercolor+palette&qid=1589046240&sr=8-2
Paint
Any brand you have already or prefer to use is fine, just make sure you have the gouache paint that comes in tubes. We will not be using the dried watercolor cakes.
This is my palette:
-Permanent White
-Cadmium Lemon
-Azo Yellow
-Raw Sienna
-Cadmium Red Light
-Cadmium Orange
-Alizarin Crimson
-Permanent Green Light
-Ultramarine
-Ivory Black
You are free to use your own palette of colors, However, having Cadmium Lemon, Raw Sienna, and Ultramarine are highly recommended additions to whatever your pallet is.
*Compact foldable chair:
https://www.amazon.com/lychee-Outdoor-Three-Legged-Foldable-Travelling/dp/B07PK1X5FK/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=3+legged+foldable+camping+chair&qid=1589044010&s=arts-crafts&sr=8-2
*Brimmed Hat
*Sunscreen
*wet panel carrier: a container to carry your wet painting safely home.
https://www.amazon.com/RayMar-Wet-Painting-Carriers-Carrier/dp/B07M6RGL5D/ref=sr_1_4?crid=4UALB7O5JGGB&dchild=1&keywords=wet+panel+carrier&qid=1589043183&s=arts-crafts&sprefix=wet+panel%2Carts-crafts%2C261&sr=1-4
Backpack to carry everything/weigh down your setup
*Umbrella- this can be for both sun and rain
*Spring clamps, assorted sizes: these are good for a number of random applications, I typically bring a few big ones and 3-4 tiny ones.
*recommended but optional