Monday Morning Art School: choosing a plein air easel or pochade box

The Gloucester-style easel is great for park-n-paint but I really can’t carry mine very far.

I finished last week’s workshop with a plein air easel show-and-tell at my gallery, because a recurring question is, “what kind of easel is best for me?”

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, so before you start looking, ask yourself these questions:

  • What size paintings do you typically do outdoors? There are maximum sizes for each plein air easel, and they don’t perform well once you exceed that.
  • What medium do you use—oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache or pastel?
  • Do you prefer fast setup and light weight, or something more stable in high winds?
  • How do you usually travel to paint?
    • Park-n-paint, where you paint near or out of your car.
      Backpacking or hiking to painting sites.
      Flying to workshops.
  • How frequently will you paint outdoors? A daily painter needs a more stable plein air easel than a once-a-month painter.
  • How handy are you? Paint boxes are simple; a good craftsman can build or modify most designs. However, if you don’t know which end of the screwdriver means business, you’re better off buying one off the shelf.

Remember, all plein air easels and pochade boxes are compromises, which is why I’ve ended up with so darn many of them.

How not to treat your Mabef M-27 watercolor easel…

Watercolors vs. oil painting

Watercolor painters who work small may need no plein air easel at all; they can do just fine with a folding chair and their work on their lap. If you plan to work larger, a pivot head is important. There are a number of options for this, including the Mabef M-27 field easel (here at Dick Blick, here at Amazon).  It can hold a full sheet of watercolor paper on a Gatorboard support and the angle adjusts very quickly. It’s also usable for other mediums, but there are easier plein air easels for oils and acrylics. Also, balancing a palette on its arms is sometimes an exercise in frustration.

Pivot heads are not just for watercolor

There are several other pivot-head systems on the market, and I generally like them because they divorce the support from the often-heavy paint box. The Leder easel at $159 (not including the tripod) is reasonably priced for a solid, stable, painting system. It can hold a canvas up to 24″ tall, which is large enough for most plein air work. You must buy your own tripod and paint box, but that has some advantages. You’re not hauling around a heavy wooden box, because you can pair it with a Masterson Sta-Wet palette box, which is far lighter. It’s also a great system for pastels, because it allows you to use your existing pastel box. In fact, you can flip between media quickly. (Ed says that if you use the code Carol10, you’ll get a 10% discount.)

Terrie Perrine’s pastel box on her Leder easel. Building your own box is a great solution if you’re handy with tools.

Guerrilla Painter boxes are rock solid but too heavy for me (I just gave my last one to a friend). They do make a fabulous support, the No. 17 Flex Easel. It still requires a tripod with a pivot head and some kind of box, but En Plein Air Pro makes an excellent shelf that will hold your stuff.

Another option in this family is the Coulter Art Box, which has a pivot head and a box with a wraparound support that grabs the legs of your tripod.

This is where being handy is helpful; many artists have modified or built flat paint boxes at a fraction of the cost of an off-the-shelf version. I built mine.

Pochade boxes

There’s so much variety in pochade boxes that I can’t possibly mention every choice. For most fieldwork I use an Easy L box, which I have in three sizes, including an 8X10 that’s light enough to backpack. I bring an Easy L box when I’m flying.

The New Wave u.go pochade is a simple, elegant design, but even the largest is really only suitable for smaller work. Its mixing area is very shallow; that’s a problem if you use lots of paint. However, the palette does lift out so you can freeze it, and it’s lightweight.

Strada makes the only aluminum pochade boxes that I know of. That’s a pity, because aluminum is less prone to moisture damage than wood. It doesn’t result in much weight savings, however.

About your tripod

A good carbon-fiber tripod and a ball head with a quick-release plate may set you back more than your pochade box. The good news is that they’re lightweight, stable, and almost indestructible. I have only one; I swap it out every time I change pochade boxes.

My students from my plein air workshop last week. Front row: Phoenix Barra, Aurise Randall, David Griffin. Back row: Helena Van Hemmen, Jeanne-Marie Van Hemmen, Lori Galan, Yves Roblin, Marlene Van Aardt, Amy Sirianni, LuAnn Dunkinson, Tim Moran, and me. Missing: Rachel Houlihan. (Photo courtesy of Bill Marr.)

Gloucester-style easel

For years, I used a cheap knock-off of the Gloucester easel. Mine finally snapped in a high wind. The replacement was so warped that I returned it. If you want this style easel, you need the Take-It Easel.

The Gloucester-style easel is invaluable for large work or windy days, but it’s too heavy for me to carry very far. Weight is the big reason so many artists use the park-n-paint approach to plein air. It’s easy, but it’s limiting.

What not to buy

I’ve written about how Google drove me toward inexpensive and fatally-flawed Meeden pochade boxes. It’s always frustrating to watch students struggling with terrible equipment..

Many people have been given a French box easel by loving friends or relatives. If you have one, by all means use it, but don’t voluntarily inflict one on yourself. They’re heavy and difficult to set up. Pochade boxes are lighter and nimbler.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: maximize your painting workshop

Main Street, Owl’s Head, oil on archival canvasboard, $1623 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

The hardest thing for a teacher is the student who says, “yes, but…” to everything one tells them. I should know; I tend to be one of those myself. I know what it means to stubbornly protect what I already know, to rely on my own skills instead of opening my mind to new concepts.

The Vineyard, oil on linen, 30X40, $5072 framed, includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Come prepared

Study the supply list, but don’t just run right out and buy everything on it. Every teacher has a reason for asking for specific materials. In my case, it’s that I teach a system of paired primaries. You can’t understand color theory without the right paints. Another teacher might emphasize beautiful mark-making. If you don’t buy the brushes he suggests, how are you going to understand his technique?

A tube of cadmium green that I once bought for a workshop and never opened still rankles. I never want to do that to my students. When you study with me, I want you to read my supply lists. If something confuses you, or you think you already have a similar item, email and ask.

(If you find yourself buying something for one of my classes or workshops and not using it, would you let me know? It means I’m missing something.)

Bring the right clothes. I send my students a packing list for clothes and personal belongings. But modify it for the weather you’re expecting. Don’t ignore the insect repellant and sunscreen.

The Surf is Cranking Up, 8X16, oil on linenboard, $903 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Know what you’re getting into.

“How can you stand this? It’s all so green!” an urban painter once said to me after a week in the Adirondacks.

There are no Starbucks in Acadia National Park or on the clear, still waters of Penobscot Bay. If you’re dependent on your latte macchiato, you may be uncomfortable at first. But the beauty of America’s wild places more than makes up for it. (And somehow, there’s always coffee, even where there’s no cell phone reception.)

Take notes

There’s a sketchbook on my supply list; plan on writing as much as you draw. If you write down key points, you’ll remember them far better than if you just read my handouts.

Listen for new ideas and ask questions. If I can’t stop and answer them mid-stream, save them for after the demo. Participate in discussions and know that your voice is valued; I’ve learned more from my students than from anyone else.

Home Farm, 20X24, oil on canvas, $2898 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Be prepared to get down and dirty.

I’m not talking about the outdoors here, I’m talking about change and growth. I am highly competitive myself, so it’s difficult for me to feel like I’m struggling. However, it’s in challenge that we make progress. Use your teacher’s method while you’re at the workshop, even if you feel like you’ve stepped back ten years in your development. That’s a temporary problem.

You can disregard what you learn when you go home, or incorporate only small pieces into your technique, but you signed up for the workshop to grow and change. You can’t do that if you cling to your own technique.

Connect with your classmates

There’s power in those relationships. Exchange email addresses. Keep in contact. Follow them on Instagram or Twitter. You’ll learn as much from each other as you will from me.

This was originally posted in March, 2023, but since I’m teaching a workshop starting today, I thought it was worth repeating.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: where do I start?

Downtown Rockport, 14X18, oil on archival canvasboard, framed, $1594 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

“I want to learn to paint but have no idea where to start,” a reader wrote. That’s a common problem, one that can express itself with questions about cost or not knowing what medium to pick.

First, the pernicious lie of talent

I’ve written extensively about talent, but I’ll just note that in art, as in everything, success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.

How to choose a medium

There is no one ‘best’ medium. I’ve had students work in oils, acrylics, watercolor, gouache, pastel and even egg-tempera. Every painting medium has the potential to be highly-detailed or highly-expressive.

Home Port, 18X24,, $2318 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

I usually ask students what painters and paintings they like, and work back from there. A person who is gaga over Edgar Degas’ pastels should probably consider pastels; a person who loves the luminosity of Wolf Kahn’s oil paintings need look no farther than oil paint.

There is no one ‘safer’ medium, because the hazards of artists’ paints lie in the pigments. The same pigments are used across all mediums, and the risk has declined considerably. Industry has brought us many safe analogues for older, more toxic pigments.

Oil painters once used turpentine as solvent, but that has been replaced by odorless mineral spirits. Acrylic polymers have low toxicity, but we dump the residue into our sewers and their environmental impact is an area of ongoing research. Watercolors and gouache use tap water as well, but they aren’t plastics; their health and environmental impact is nil. Pastels are often sold in sets without the individual pigments identified. For that reason, they shouldn’t be used without gloves or a skin barrier. Where there’s pastel dust, a good HEPA filter is imperative. All of these risks are manageable, but they do require consideration.

There’s no one medium that’s cheaper over the long haul. Whereas oil painters go through more paint, watercolor brushes are more expensive. In my experience (and I’ve used them all) the costs average out over time.

Camden Harbor from Curtis Island, oil on canvas, $2782 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental United States.

Where do I start?

I’m happy to share my supply lists, which you can find in this blog post. However, what you need depends on what you’re trying to do. For example, studio painting uses the same pigments and brushes as plein air, but the easel requirements are very different.

Starting to learn to paint can feel overwhelming. There’s fear of doing it wrong, of wasting time or materials or of making something that doesn’t match the vision in our heads. Don’t let that last one scare you; I’ve been painting for almost sixty years and have never quite matched the vision in my head.

One of the rookie errors of learning to paint is to try to buy your way to success. Art supply companies make their millions on impulse buyers. That can take the form of paints and brushes you don’t need, or it can take the form of cheap materials that will never do what you want them to do.

Forsythia at Three Chimneys, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental United States.

I believe you will save money and time by taking classes first. Above all, don’t agonize. I’ve made a million dumb mistakes, but they’re part of the learning process.

I used to have a student who started every painting by telling me, “I’m going to give this to ___ for ___.” It wiped her out, every single time. We should always start with the process, not the result. Every painting we do is practice for the next one that comes along.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: common art scams

Cottonwoods along the Rio Verde, 9X12, oil on archivally-prepared Baltic birch, $696 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Unfortunately, fine artists—especially those who’ve recently started selling their art—are inviting targets for scammers. Here are some of the current art scams:

An oldie-but-baddie, the overpayment scam

How it works: A buyer reaches out, eager to purchase artwork. They offer to send a check, usually more than the agreed amount, and ask the artist to refund the balance, supposedly to a shipping agent. The check bounces after the refund is sent. This scam, for the record, is mail fraud, but it’s so common I doubt the USPS has time to follow up every example.

Watch for these red flags: the contact will make vague references to your work, without requesting details of size, frame, or additional photos. They will offer to send an overpayment, with a request to refund the difference. These emails and messages always seem one step away from illiterate. They’re not exclusive to artists; a friend fell for one on a rental property deposit.

Brooding Skies, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522

Related: the third-party shipping company scam

How it works: A buyer says they will arrange for a third-party shipping company, but you’re asked to pay the shipping fees up front. Of course, the shipping company is fake.

Watch for this red flag: any time a buyer asks you to pay any third party, don’t. Get yourself a shipping account and do the shipping from your end.

The fake art dealer or pay-to-play gallery

How it works: you’re offered a spot in a show, magazine, or exhibition, but you have to pay a fee to participate. (This is different from entry fees to juried shows, which are legitimate.) These vanity galleries and publications have no real exposure or audience.

Watch for these red flags: you’re asked to pay to be featured, the websites are vague or poorly designed, and there are no verifiable credentials. I was recently ‘invited’ to a show with a major New York auction house. Very little research was necessary to show me that the curator had no connection with the real thing.

No Northern Lights Tonight, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Phishing and identity theft                                                    

How it works: Scammers pose as buyers to get your personal information or gain access to your online accounts.

Watch for these red flags: Suspicious links or attachments in emails or requests for login details, banking info or your peer-to-peer payment apps. Apps like Venmo or PayPal are not covered by the same banking rules as your credit card or checking account, which means less protection against fraud.

Another oldie-but-baddie: the NFT scam

How it works: you’re approached about turning your art into NFTs—but asked to pay upfront minting fees. Or your art is stolen and minted as NFTs without your permission.

Watch for these red flags: I get several of these messages a week through Facebook. They are high-pressure, even after I say I have no interest in NFTs. These people can’t clearly explain the platform, the process or how you will make money. Often there are upfront costs for future earnings.

Île d’Orléans waterfront farm, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

A rare but bad scam: gallery default

How it works: a gallery takes your work on consignment but doesn’t report sales or disappears with your pieces.

Red flags: no written contract, no inventory list or receipts, no communication. Sometimes these are signs of a disorganized gallerist, but you should be paid promptly (within 30 days) of a gallery sale.

How to protect yourself:

I only sell work through Square or, in rare instances, by check. Credit card services offer protection that is worth their high fees. But here are some guidelines to help you weed through suspicious offers:

  • Does the buyer reference a specific piece of your work and show a familiarity with your work, or is everything in generalities?
  • Does their email address match the gallery or name that the sender is using?
  • Can you verify their identity using LinkedIn, a gallery website or social media?
  • Are they pressuring you?
  • Are they offering to overpay or include shipping/refund instructions?
  • Do they ask you to send money to a third party?
  • Is the offer full of grammar and spelling errors?
  • Are you being asked for money?
  • Do you have a written contract for any gallery opportunity?

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: art in times of stress

Skylarking II, 18×24, oil on linen, $1855, includes shipping in the continental US.

This may come as a big surprise, readers, but we’re in a period of upheaval. We all react to stress differently, but for many of us, it’s very hard to concentrate during challenging times—we’re too busy worrying and doomscrolling to focus on anything positive.

While keeping your artistic practice alive through stressful times is challenging, it can also be healing.

Breaking Storm, oil on linen, 30X48, $5579 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

First, let’s talk about working when you’re feeling paralyzed:

Lower the Bar Without Losing the Thread

I’ve just come through a long artistic drought. My way of coping was to do less, but to at least do something. For me, that meant drawing instead of painting, and I clung to teaching my weekly classes.

Doing something could mean watercolor sketches, tiny color studies, or even color-mixing charts. These are practice strokes against the day when you’re ready to start really painting again.

Make a tiny window of time just for art

When my house threatens to overwhelm me, I make a point of putting away ten things and then stopping. I insist on the stopping because if I don’t tell myself that, I’ll never start. It means cleaning isn’t an insurmountable burden.

A similar technique works with art practice. Make yourself a tiny ritual: sketching for ten minutes while you drink your coffee, for example. Humans find comfort in routine. And stop telling yourself that you have more pressing responsibilities. Anyone can afford ten or twenty minutes; I’ve wasted more time than that reading about the Kardashians.

The Wave, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Keep an idea journal

I can’t stress the importance of drawing your ideas, even if they’re just scribbles. Even chaotic things have creative value. I’ve recently stopped sharing my sketches, because they’ve suddenly gotten less-developed and more experimental. Not everything needs to be finished for public consumption.

Switch up your medium

When I’m flailing around in oils, I switch over to watercolors. They feel more relaxing, even though there are just as many ways to mess them up. It’s not that another medium is easier; it’s just that it applies pressure in different spots.

With a little help from your friends

Painters do art alone, but that doesn’t mean we need to isolate ourselves. I survived my art drought with the support of my students and my close friends. Even when you’re too paralyzed to make art, you can talk art, and that in itself can get you moving again.

Be patient with yourself

Okay, that’s easier said than done, especially for us impatient people. But your creative drought is also when you’ll gather new ideas and insights, think and even rest. It took me months to have the epiphany that got me moving again, and that was all built on the back of indirect work.

Skylarking, 24X36, oil on canvas, $3985 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How does art reduce anxiety?

Let’s talk about why you should keep making art even if you’re feeling overwhelmed right now.

First, you’ll find that it helps reduce anxiety. When you make art, your brain shifts from a stress-driven state (the sympathetic nervous system) to a calmer state (the parasympathetic nervous system). Your heart rate slows, cortisol levels drop and breathing deepens.

Psychologically, making art puts you into a flow state. That has no past or future and therefore little space for worry. Art is, of course, all about making the intangible tangible, which helps you externalize feelings (even if what you’re making has nothing to do with emotion). That reduces the power of anxiety.

Art therapy has been proven to work for PTSD, depression, and chronic stress. Why not let it work for us, too?

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: is artist self-doubt normal?

Cottonwoods along the Rio Verde River, $696 unframed, oil on Baltic birch.

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” (Vincent van Gogh)

If Van Gogh occasionally felt like that, what hope is there for the rest of us? But don’t give up quite yet; not only is artist self-doubt universal, it’s also a helpful part of our growth process.

Artist self-doubt is a sign that we care deeply about our work and are pushing ourselves creatively. Most serious artists, from students to professionals, wrestle with questions like:

“Is this any good?”

“Am I really an artist?”

“Who really cares about this, anyway?”

In fact, when you aren’t asking those questions, you’re in danger of becoming a stale parody of yourself.

Eastern Manitoba Forest, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Why we suffer from artist self-doubt

Almost everyone, in any line of work, has moments of imposter syndrome. That’s the feeling that you’re a fraud despite clear evidence of your skills, accomplishments or success. People with impostor syndrome often believe they don’t deserve their achievements. They fear being ‘found out’—even when they’re actually doing superlative work.

Artists carry an additional burden. Our work is inextricably bound to our innermost identities. Any judgment (real or imagined) of our work feels like a judgment of our selves. We can’t help that; we just have to recognize that the arrows of criticism are going to lodge deep. That goes for criticism from ourselves as well as from others.

In art, there’s no perfection. We reach points where we think, ‘wow, I’m really painting well,’ only to immediately start seeing other, previously-unnoticed flaws. That’s because the more we know, the more aware we are of where we can improve. (And people think art is easy.)

Lake of the Woods, 12X16, oil on archival canvasboard, $1159 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Comparison traps

Social media has a lot to answer for, but its comparison traps are purgatory for artists. Just as young women are barraged with bleached, buffed, airbrushed, filled, enhanced images masquerading as women, social media throws up images of ‘perfect’ art to confuse and depress painters. It’s easy to feel inadequate by comparison, especially when you can’t even tell if the art is made by human hands.

Progress comes in fits and starts

For all artists, progress isn’t linear. Some months, the paint will flow off your brushes; you may spend the next two months wondering why you thought you could ever paint at all. It helps to know that this is perfectly normal.

Pensive 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

But here’s the good news

Self-doubt helps sharpen your vision. It makes you think. That pushes you to reflect, revise, and improve. Furthermore, the more you paint, the less you’ll be in the grip of artist self-doubt. Like all other forms of anxiety, self-doubt fades with action. Regular practice builds confidence more reliably than any amount of inspiration.

What I find helpful

I keep a sketchbook and do private work that I don’t share with others. And I have a community of artists (my students and my peers) who keep me from feeling isolated.

I recently went through about twenty years of sketchbooks. It was fun to see the places I’ve been. More importantly, I could track development over time. It’s helpful to reflect on how far you’ve come, not on how far you still have to go.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: how to prepare for your first art show

Île d’Orléans waterfront farm, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

A student in one of my classes has been painting lovely small studies of birds. For the past two weeks, I’ve been musing on how she might display and sell them in her Brooklyn, NY, neighborhood. It turns out I’m not the only person who thinks she’s ready; she was just asked to mount her first show. We’ve had a lot of back-and-forth as she’s gotten things ready.

My first art show was in high school, when I could happily leave the prep to the grown-ups. For many years, I overprepared, with too much inventory and refreshments. I hope I’ve learned to be more balanced, but my Italian grandmother will peek out now and again.

How to prepare for your first art show

In honor of my student Amy, I’ve put together a list of questions I think are important. If you’re trying to figure out how to prepare for your first art show, I hope this helps.

Athabasca River Confluence, 9X12, $696 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Where should a beginning artist aim to show their work?

Approach coffee shops, professional offices and libraries to see if they would be interested in showing your work. Please don’t think of these places as down-market. I have had long, successful relationships with them, and they’ve resulted in better sales than some galleries.

How should you approach them? While galleries generally want you to apply online in 2025, that is too much to ask of a local business. The best way to approach them is in person. Follow that up by emailing them images of your work. Some kind of web presence is necessary, even if it’s a one-page free website. And you need a business card.

Assuming you’re not a hermit, you know people—at the Y, in your church, at the coffee shop you visit every day, at your local am-dram, your hometown library, at the dentist. Don’t hesitate to ask your connections.

Pensive 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How many pieces do you need for an art show?

First off, don’t even go looking unless you have a solid body of work. I don’t mean work that you necessarily want to show, but a body of work with some depth that can be mined for content.

How much you need for a specific, thematically-related show depends on how large the space is and whether the work is to be hung salon-style or in a more open, contemporary way. When you visit the space, bring a tape measure and take photos. If they already have work up, count the pieces and compare the sizes to yours.

How should you choose a theme or title for your show?

That should derive naturally from your work, but if it isn’t, perhaps you could enlist a friend to help you narrow down the major themes of your work. “Historical landscapes” is a boring theme, but “Memories of Bad Old Butchertown” might be just roguish enough to draw people in.

Maynard Dixon Clouds, 11X14, oil on archival canvas board, $869 includes shipping in continental US.

Should the work be framed?

In a perfect world, yes. Paintings generally look and sell better in frames. However, give people the option to buy them without frames at a slight discount.

I realize frames are expensive and annoying, but they really do sell paintings.

Should the work be signed?

Yes.

How do you label the work?

Label each painting with the title, dimensions, medium, price, and your name. These labels should be typed. I have created a blank you can download. If you know how to use Microsoft Office, you can merge these from a list; if not, you can just type in the information. Print them on card stock, trim them to be 2×3.5”, and Bob’s your uncle.

Who should you invite?

Absolutely everyone you know. You’ll be amazed at who’s interested.

Twenty minutes you won’t regret wasting

This is a fabulous short video by the National Gallery on 14th century Siena and the invention of painting.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: preparing for a plein air painting workshop

High Surf, 12X16, oil on prepared birch painting surface, $1159 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Plein air painting workshops? I’ve taught a few (gazillion). Like most good instructors, I’ll send you supply lists, clothing suggestions, and travel instructions before we set out. But there are intangibles that will help you have a better time.

Plan to be flexible. In March when I drove over the mountain to Sedona, AZ, the last thing I expected to see were inches of snow on the ground. But weird stuff happens. Weather, light and circumstances change. Adaptability is a great skill, and rapid change is what makes landscape painting both the most difficult and the most rewarding of all the painterly disciplines.

You can never plan for every eventuality—for example, my rental car from Phoenix had neither snow tires nor a snow brush. But if you set out with a broad range of stuff you’re likely to need, more or less you’ll have enough stuff to make a stab at almost everything. And your teacher or peers will have whatever you need to fill in the rest.

Sunset over Cadillac Mountain, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 includes shipping and handling.

Last year at Sea & Sky at Schoodic we knew we had a Nor’easter bearing down on us on the last day. We coped by preloading extra painting time earlier in the week. Everyone got lots of painting and learning in. We had the added bonus of watching a wicked storm crossing Schoodic Point, although there was no paint sticking to paper or canvas in that weather. Then there was the time Cassie Sano saw a bear.

Embrace imperfection: If you’ve ever wanted to learn to paint loose, plein air is your best teacher. You simply can’t fuss over the details in the field, especially in half-day exercises.

I tell my students they’re not in class to make masterpieces but to learn. Ironically, that’s when they often do their best work.

Ask questions: This is a hard one for me, because I’m not one for group sharing, myself. But instructors are there to help, and your peers often have valuable insights. Ask your teacher lots of questions. I’m usually grateful for them, because they reveal places where my explanations have been fuzzy or weak.

Surf’s Up is 12X16, on a prepared birch surface. $1159 includes shipping and handling in the Continental US.

Why should you take a plein air workshop?

Painting outdoors forces artists to observe light, color and form more carefully and accurately than working from photos. It’s far harder, and it teaches you to edit on the fly, so when you do work in the studio you aren’t slavishly copying your reference pictures.

Plein air challenges you to simplify and focus on essentials—composition, light, and value—leading to noticeable skill improvement.

Natural surroundings also spark fresh ideas and emotional responses that don’t happen in the studio. There are people joined by a common reverence towards nature, who are (overwhelmingly, in my experience) supportive, intelligent, and helpful.

Painting in public can be intimidating at first, but it builds confidence in your process and helps you become more resilient as an artist.

Lastly, we teach workshops in places that are beautiful—in my case, Maine, the Berkshires and Sedona—and wonderful to paint.

The Surf is Cranking Up, 8X16, oil on linenboard, $903 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

And sometimes there’s profit in it

Mark Gale sent me this over the weekend: “As I was prepping paintings for a pop-up market, I found myself including a couple from a painting series I took with Carol Douglas. Then I realized I have sold paintings from in-person workshops and other Zoom series with Carol. Yes, she will make you a better painter. She also has an uncanny ability to deliver intangible extras. Students from across the country meet, form relationships and stay in touch. Carol’s alums have an enduring community. And sometimes, that piece you thought was just a class exercise, ends up in the hands of a happy customer.”

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: what medium should I choose?

Apple Blossom Time, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

I’m often asked about the best medium for the beginning artist. That’s like assuming that there’s a one-size-fits-all catsuit.

No medium is inherently easier or more difficult than another. They all have their challenges and rewards. Similarly, no medium is inherently more toxic than another; the toxicity of paint lies in the pigments, not the binder. You can avoid toxic pigments in any medium. And, perhaps most importantly, once you get past the entry-level supplies, they all hit an expense plateau, so you might as well choose what you like.

But don’t be surprised if you end up working in more than one medium. I use them all, and my great regret is that I don’t have more time to experiment.

A tiny painting done with Golden Open Acrylics.

Acrylics are fast-drying and versatile. You can layer and finish paintings quickly. They clean up well with soap and water, and inexpensive acrylic paints are available at most department stores at a low price (although you get what you pay for).

That same quick-drying characteristic is a minus when it comes to working slowly or en plein air, which is why most manufacturers now offer retarders. Retarders help, but never give you the open time of oils. Acrylics can also darken as they dry, and their final feel is more plasticky and less buttery than oils.

You can work acrylics leanly, but adding too much water breaks down the bonds. If your goal is transparency, you need to use an acrylic medium designed for glazing.

Rachel’s Garden, ~24×35, watercolor on Yupo, museum-grade plexiglass, $3985 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Watercolors are the most portable medium. With a travel kit, a brush and a sketchbook, you can paint anywhere.

Watercolors have a luminous quality that comes from the paper reflecting back through the pigment. They’re fast and spontaneous, and you needn’t worry overmuch if you screw something up; just paint something else. Cleanup is, of course, absurdly simple. Just rinse your brushes, wipe off your palette, and head home.

Of course, that’s all true until you set out to create something brilliant. The downside of watercolor is that errors are hard to fix. Once pigment sets, it’s often there to stay. That means you need to plan ahead. And getting consistent results takes practice and patience.

And good watercolor paper ain’t cheap, as my friend Becky constantly reminds me.

Oils offer the richest, most vibrant colors. Since they dry very slowly, you have tons of time to work, blend, tweak, and perfect your transitions, if that’s your thing. Oils have a centuries-long track record for durability without fading, and you can go from thin glazes to thick impasto with the same material.

Oils can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to dry to the touch, but don’t be fooled; that painting is still wet inside, which is why it can’t be varnished immediately. You will need odorless mineral spirits and a good brush soap to clean your brushes. The cleanup is a bit finickier than with other mediums, but it needn’t ruin your life.

Gouache is just opaque watercolor. It dries to a matte finish, and can cover underlying layers. It’s reworkable and fast-drying. It’s an excellent learning medium and is often used by illustrators because it’s quick.

Once dry, the paint layer can be easily scuffed or reactivated by moisture, so varnishing can tricky. Colors don’t always dry accurately, and gouache doesn’t blend well.

You need to work on a stiff board or paper, because gouache will crack if laid down too thickly or not on a proper support.

Shenandoah Valley, long time ago and far, far away… in pastel.

Pastels are expressive and tactile and support a wide range of styles.

There’s no need to learn brushwork with pastels, since there aren’t any brushes. Blending is simple and intuitive, as is layering and creating texture. Pastels, like oil paints, have a good record of longevity.

Finished pastel paintings are fragile, and need to be framed or fixed (which may change the colors.) Pastel dust is also potentially hazardous; more so, in fact, than any paint-bound medium. So pastelists should work in well-ventilated areas and wear some kind of gloves, since pigments can be absorbed through the skin.

My Tuesday class is sold out, but there’s still room in the Monday evening class:

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025:

Monday Morning Art School: basics of painting

Happy Dyngus Day! This marks the first real day of spring in my home city of Buffalo, where “everyone is Polish on Dyngus Day.”

Dawn Wind, Twin Lights, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 includes shipping and handling in the continental US.

There are some fundamental principles that every painter should know. Even if you’re an experienced painter, you might benefit from reviewing these basics of painting:

Materials:

  • Understand the basic differences between oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, oil and chalk pastels, and tempera. Know which can be used in multimedia applications such as printmaking or collage, and which will cause chemical reactions that lead to decay. Understand how your specific media works in terms of open time, opacity and blending. (And, yes, I realize I’ve never written about this, so I’ll get right on it.)
  • Know how to read a paint tube and understand the difference between popular names and the pigments actually in the tube. Know the difference between what you want and what you need.
  • Know what kind of brushes are appropriate for your media, and your method of painting. There is a vast range of bristle material out there, and they are suitable for specific mediums and specific methods of painting.
  • Know what surfaces (supports) are suitable for your media, and what kind of sealant you need if you use an incompatible support.
  • Understand the difference between medium and solvent, where each are appropriate, and how they affect viscosity, opacity and drying time.
Seafoam, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed.

Drawing fundamentals

Value

Peaceful tidal pool, 9X12, $869,

Color Theory

Fundamentals of composition

Nocturne on Clam Cove, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869.00 framed includes shipping in continental US.

Observation and reference

Maintenance

  • If painting in oils or acrylics, clean your brushes properly after each use. If painting in watercolor, rinse your brushes thoroughly after each use, especially if painting with salt water.
  • Store your materials someplace other than the back of your car (which is one of my worst habits).

If this is all review, congratulations! If not, you might consider taking one of my classes below this spring:

This spring’s painting classes

Zoom Class: Advance your painting skills

Mondays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 28 to June 9

Advance your skills in oils, watercolor, gouache, acrylics and pastels with guided exercises in design, composition and execution.

This Zoom class not only has tailored instruction, it provides a supportive community where students share work and get positive feedback in an encouraging and collaborative space. 

Zoom class: Signature series

Tuesdays, 6 PM – 9 PM EST
April 29-June 10

This is a combination painting/critique class where students will take deep dives into finding their unique voices as artists, in an encouraging and collaborative space. The goal is to develop a nucleus of work as a springboard for further development.

If you’re ready to start painting, I’ve just released Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters. You’ll learn seven essential protocols that every successful oil painter needs to follow. Each course focuses on one protocol, and you can take them in any order that suits you.

Reserve your spot ASAP for a workshop in 2025: