Plein Air Painting Supplies Must Haves

Due to my MFA classes resuming this month I needed to make pieces of equipment that will make my life much easier when I paint in the field (Plein Air). 

Some artists, mainly beginners, purchase their equipment while others the equipment they need. I option to do the latter because it's cheaper if you have a few hours to do it. 

The first piece of equipment I made was a Sketch Easel originally perfected by  artist/illustrator James Gurney. I made some adjustments however in the future I will find another way to make it. I don't necessarily like how the wings fold as they do not fold perfectly flat. 

The second piece I made was a Painting Panel Holder from 1/2" x 2" Poplar.

The third piece is a wet painting carrier for 11''x15" panels out of Gorilla Tape, corrugated plastic and some 1"X2" stock. 

I haven't posted here for awhile but much of this blog will be updated on a regular basis. Well, my biggest news is that I graduated from Academy of Art University with a Master of Arts in Visual Development. People often wonder what Visual Development is. It goes by different names depending on the institution or the individual:

• Entertainment Design or Entertainment Arts
  
  
• Conceptual/Concept Design or Concept Art
  
  
• Illustration for Entertainment Design
  
  
• Visual Storytelling

I will be attending Academy of Art University to continue in the Master of Fine Arts in Visual Development in Spring 2021. I want the terminal degree that can open doors that an MA cannot. 

MFA is considered a terminal degree because there is no other higher degree in the visual arts. 

As an educator in higher education this can equate to higher pay, too. I will post my portfolio in future posts. 

Works In Progress

Here's some updates of some work I did previously that never felt like they were finished. They still have more refining to do. The Bride needs to be more atmospheric and fully developed background and wraps need different texture. 
The Titan Raptor needs to be painted but you can see the differences between the original and the updated version. The Warrior Angel simply needs refining and more atmospheric. He should appear as if he's flying through a cloud layer.

 

The Bride WIP, 2019

Titan Raptor WIP, 2019

Original, 2014

Warrior Angel WIP, 2019

Here's the final for my Fawn Sketch....mixed media of collage, acrylic, colored pencils and digital. I wanted to make sure I preserved as much of the original drawing as possible.

FAWN Sketch WIP

Originally this started as a demonstration on mixed media but now its morphing into something more substantial. I will update this work in progress as things continue to develop

ALL THINGS: Concept Painting V Thumbnail

Here's the final Thumbnail  and WIP for my next painting for the All Things concept painting. I'm still moving some stuff around because it has this weird face staring back at me.

Re-Paint: Robin Hood

Sometimes you have pieces that weren't complete thoughts or ones that just plain didn't work and all it takes is a few tweaks. Here's the beginning of some re-paints that just plain works much better than I originally conceived. This is part of a fantasy based Robin Hood I did some years back. I worked more atmospheric perspective and pushed the structure back in the distance to give a bigger sense of scale and creating more of a focal point to the Hero. Originally, there was a planet in the background that just didn't need to be there.