Springtime at the Hill- en plein air

You might be thinking, "That's not much of a hill". But the "Hill" I'm referring to in this painting is the A.P. Hill monument on Hermitage Road in Richmond's North Side neighborhood.

"Springtime at the Hill Monument" 8x10", Oil on Canvas (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

Painted on location yesterday afternoon, I started this at about 2 PM under warm, sunny skies. But it sure got chilly pretty quickly once the clouds started rolling in.

I pass by this gentleman every day as I drive to and from home, but I think he's at his most charming in the springtime as he gazes down at the row of flowering trees.

I didn't realize this but according to Wikipedia:

"This monument is the only one of its type in Richmond under which the subject individual is actually interred."

Plein air easels- the pochade box

*Note: This is the second in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To read the other installments, click on the following links:Part I: On the quest for the perfect easel  Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

Picking up on my previous post about artist easels, today I'll discuss plein air easel #2; my first pochade box. The word "pochade" comes from the French word "pocher" meaning "to sketch".  Popularized in the 19th century by landscape painters such as the Impressionists, a pochade box was a small wooden sketch box (sometimes called a "thumb box")  with a hinged lid that could be held in the hand, to easily take into the field for small sketches and painting studies (pochades.) Today, what we call a pochade box comes in many different sizes beyond the tiny hand-held variety.

After I developed my "wingnut aversion" the pochade box idea really appealed to me, as the modern boxes are made to attach to a camera tripod, which has telescoping legs. The box I chose was the Guerilla Painter's Pochade Box (9x12")

As you can see here, this particular pochade box has a hinged lid that holds  9x12" panels, and can readily take any panel that is 12" wide. The wood palette slides out to reveal little compartments to hold supplies. Like other pocade boxes, this one has a tripod mount to take any standard camera tripod. The tripod shown above is the Guerilla Painter's brand, but I chose a Bogen Manfrotto Jr. tripod, which I purchased for a steal on eBay. Bogen is a good brand and the "junior" Manfrotto model is sturdy while still being reasonably lightweight.

The Guerilla Painter's box is a fine pochade box that will likely last many years. It is a strudy piece of gear and will withstand frequent use. You could klunk the thing on the ground and not make a dent.  The box is well constructed, and performs as described by the manufacturer.  In many ways, you could do far worse than this box for the quality, and while the price has gone up since I made my purchase, the basic setup seems  comparable to other painting boxes on the market.

This box is certainly more compact and practical than the stodgy El Greco, and also a bit lower in weight. But once you consider the weight of the required tripod, the weight of the basic box is about the same weight as the traditional French half  box easel. However, this changes if you want more versatility. For example, at the time of my purchase, it was necessary to buy various inserts and attachments to best allow for the use of smaller 8x10" and 6x8" canvases, though the company later developed a slip in easel that allowed for a bit more versatility.

Not only are addtional accessories another thing to keep up with, but they added more overall weight to the painting setup (though my wallet soon began to feel lighter). In addition, while I find it far less awkward than the full French easel, the deep boxy shape made it a bit bulky and cumbersome for travel. The manufacturer,  Judson's Art Outfitters does sell compatible backpacks, however, along with many other nifty plein air accessories suitable for any plein air painter, whether using the Guerilla Painter's pochade box or some other brand. 

This is a picture of my own Guerilla Painter's Pochade box with the Bogen Manfrotto Jr. tripod. You might be able to make out the insert I'm using to accomodate my 8x10" painting. I use a bungee chord to hold my paper towels and a plastic bag for trash. Beneath the tripod there are two bags. One is a bag that actually goes to a folding portable chair that has a a shoulder strap. I confiscated it to carry my tripod. The box did not fit in any of the backpacks I owned, so I used the large canvas LLBean toteshown in the backgroundto carry my pochade box and other supplies.

The  bulk of this box is largely due to the enclosed compartment designed to hold paint tubes and other supplies, which for some could actually be a useful component.  But the storage compartments are an insufficient size to hold long-handled paint brushes without first sawing off a part of the handle. And the little square compartment that logically looks as if it wil be perfect to hold your paint thinner is too shallow for the standard brush washers, so you will either need to pack your brush washer separately, buy one from Judson Art Outfitter's, or find a small jar suitable to fit in the compartment once the lid is closed. (Not a big deal, but still worth noting if you've already invested in a brush washer.) And while it's moderately convenient to have paint tubes right under my palette, the way these compartments were configured seemed to add more bulk than convenience.

So while there is certainly nothing wrong with this box, I foundthat along with the bulk, it was a slight annoyance that the accessories necessary to make this box its most versatile added weight and needed to be purchased separately.  I am now thinking of selling my Guerilla Painters Pochade box or justkeeping  it as a backup (Update: It's off the market. I ended up gifting this to my talented niece Molly) in case something happens to.... Plein Air Easel #3. In many ways, #3 is a slice of plein air heaven. But this heaven comes with a couple of caveats, and a pretty hefty price. More on that in the next installment.

*Note: This is the second in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To continue reading the other installments, click on the following links:

Part I: On the quest for the perfect easel Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

Plein air easels (or "gotta-have-it-itis")

*Note: This is the first in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To continue reading the other installments, click on the following links: Part II: Guerilla Painter's Pochade Box Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

If you're an artist,  (or if you're married to one) you may by now be familiar with a common artist-borne affliction: "gotta-have-it-itis". This is when you see, read, or hear about an item recommended by a fellow artist, and you figure that this thing, whether it be a particular brush, a paint color, easel, or whatever, is THE thing you've been missing all of your life, and THE thing that will make you a much better artist.

Well, while having the right tools can certainly help the creation process along a great deal, a reality check would tell all of us oil painters that in our craft, we are ultimately dealing with the following rather primitive ingredients: a stick with hair on the end, mud mixed with oil, and cloth. And while the greatest investment should be in the time needed to learn and practice our craft, it IS fun to play and experiment with a few new tools...especially ones that help make life a little easier.

However, there's a big difference between investing in "a few" tools and getting caught up in aforementioned affliction. As you will see, I've not been immune to these pitfalls. But I think Ihave finally decided it's time to get real and stop the madness. While in recovery, I thought I'd at least share some of my experiences with a few "tools of the trade". Who knows? Maybe it will help a fellow artist or two with their decision-making process.

I'll start with what can be one of the most expensive tools-- the easel. As both a plein air and studio artist, I "gotta have" at least a couple of versions of this item in order to more easily do what I need to do. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it! ) And since the weather keeps teasing me with hints of spring, I will start with easels of the plein-air-kind.  Over the years I have accumulated five easels that fall into the plein air/portable easel category. Good grief. Can this be? I really do need help. The fact that I still have all of these easels actually brings up a related affliction common with many artists, called "pack-rat-itis." (This is usually diagnosed by an onset of weak protests such as "Hey, I might need that for something....someday.")  But that is a subject for another time.

My first plein air easel was the Trident El Greco full French Easel.  I bought this with very good intentions when I first started painting landscapes, based on a recommendation I read in a book about plein air painting. I won't even bother to provide a link to this easel. Sorry, but I really hated this thing, pretty much from the get-go. The first time I used it I lost 2 wing nuts journeying from my car to the painting site, which made  the legs impossible to stand. After that I started packing extra wingnuts with my supplies, for the next ones that would inevitably loosen and  fall off, no matter how carefully they were secured in advance. The other annoyance was the weight. As plein air painters, we are always and forever looking for ways to lighten the load, correct? Well, this easel ain't it! I am a bit of a shrimp, but even so this easel has far more weight and bulk than is necessary for plein air painting.

Here I am in a face-off with my nemesis, El Greco. (I don't really remember the circumstances of this photo, but I believe my haughty look can be attributed to a wrestling match that ensued during setup just prior to the snapshot.)

I might have dealt with the weight and clumsiness at least a little longer if it was a sturdier easel. Maybe my easel was just from a bum lot, but the final annoyance was that the El Greco did not withstand even modest use before it started to fall apart. The nuts began to slip and other screws quickly started to strip. The wood on one leg splilt and cracked to the point where the thing would not stand at all. And no, I didn't abuse it or throw the thing down the stairs, though there were plenty of times that I wanted to!

El Greco is now "La Tavola". Or if we're sticking to Spanish, "La Mesa". It can still work as a table easel or receive a painting that needs to dry, though mostly now it just receives glares and passing insults. IMO, a better alternative would have been a french half-box (from many accounts, the Julian brand seems to be one that is tried and true). This is a smaller version of the French style easel (for those of you who are sticklers for tradition and have a soft spot for wingnuts.) The half box has the same size 12x16" palette as the full French, by the way. Only with the half box it folds in half rather handily to fit in the box.

Overall though, the French easel, while pretty to look at and readily available most anywhere, is too fragile and cumbersome for my taste. After my first foray into this design, I soon decided I was finished with all of that and moved directly on to Easel #2: my first pochade. I will write about that in a future post, so stay tuned for the next installment of this mind-numbing nail biting tale.

*Note: This is the first in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To continue reading the other installments, click on the following links:

Part II: Guerilla Painter's Pochade Box Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

"Winter on the James" plein air painting

This is a view of the James River that I painted today on location at the Hollywood Cemetery in my town, Richmond, Virginia:

"Winter on the James" Oil on canvas, 9x12" ©Jennifer Young

I actually love old cemeteries any way, but the Hollywood Cemetery is one of Richmond's landmarks and a major tourist attraction in our town. Not only is it the burial place of two presidents and several prominent figures in civil war history, but, as the website points out, it is also incredibly beautiful.

The cemetery sits on a bluff overlooking the James River, and is filled with over 2000 trees of many varieties (some of them quite large, and older than the 1847-founded cemetery itself.) In fact, even though we have a number of beautiful parks in Richmond, Hollywood Cemetery is the location that kind of reminds me of a mini Central Park. People go there to meditate, pray, visit loved ones who have passed, but also to write, walk their dogs and just wander the grounds. Today, I went there to paint.

The day started out as a nice, sunny, and unusually warm winter day. But shortly after I got there, I soon found that my "perfect" spot on a bluff overlooking the James River had the disadvantage of getting whipped into a frenzy by the wind! I really did have to cut this session short. The piece needs more work, but I will return on a better day.

As it was, by the time I packed up my gear, I looked like I had been attacked by a giant tube of Windsor green paint!  (Ah, the joys of plein air painting!) Any way,  I am just glad nobody saw my little Jerry Lewis plein air routine. Well, maybe some ghosts saw, but (at least today), they weren't talking. ;-)

A few gallery snaps from the "Small Stuff" show

Don't let anyone tell you that hanging a show for a bunch of small works is an easy task. But after it was all in place, we were very happy with the results, and I'm glad to report that my husband and I are still married. ;-) Here are a few shots from the show, on view now through Jan. 30th: When we were looking at this space for the gallery, one of the first things I noticed was this cute built-in. It's a perfect display for my minis and my new line of watercolors. Here I've decorated it with some lights and mistletoe:

A close-up that shows some of the ornaments--I like the little silver and gold Christmas balls along the bottom shelf:

On the opposite wall are the landscape paintings of Venice and Lake Como:

Close-up shot of the mantelpiece decorated with paintings. To the left of the large Venetian landscape are a series of little square 6x6" Lake Como paintings.Regular readers probably know by now that I'm a fan of grouping big and small paintings together like this. I'd love to do something similar over my fireplace mantle at home.

A small grouping from the next room of some of my more local autumn scenes:

Iguess that's really all I had time for, photography-wise. I may share a few more snaps and I will definitely share more info on some of the individual pieces in the show very soon.