Super-Lightweight Plein Air Setup for Traveling
How to transport my wet paintings? I'm sure this is nothing new to a lot of you, but it was new to me, and I'm quite pleased with the results.
I usually paint 9x12 on the road, so I cut foamcore into 11x14 rectangles with my handy Exacto. I got some square balsawood-ish rods at a craft store for almost nothing, and cut them into about 6 inch pieces (with my handy Exacto). I Elmer's-glued one each onto the edges of my foamcore rectangle, creating the space needed for the wet paint. Then I taped my 9x12 gessoed linen sheets onto the board. Voila. Stackable, portable, wet paint carriers. Good to go. BTW, you could also stick a painting panel on the board just as easily, using double sided tape.) And, as long as your foamcore boards are the same size, you can attach any smaller size painting surface to the board.
I decided to take it one step further. I took another 11x14 piece of foamcore, covered it in clear Contac paper, smoothing it out flat easily, flipped over the board and trimmed the excess with my Exacto. Oh, eureka! The most lightweight paint palette ever! I just tossed that on top of my other boards as the “Top”. All the same size. All lightweight. A dream come true. I might add that the Contac paper cleans up just like glass. It's amazing stuff.
And of course, RosemaryandCo.com to read about the wonderful handmade artist brushes. You can purchase them there or HERE on my website claudiawilliams.com