Brilliant Light Over Portmagee & Puffin Island (sketch)
6"x8" oil on canvas mounted on board
"It is the commonest of mistakes to consider that the limit of our power of perception is also the limit of all there is to perceive."
- C.W. Leadbeater
I was trying out a new little "thumb-box" today. This is a small (tiny in fact) little paint box that holds a 6x8 inch panel and is very light weight. It is the holy-grail of plein-air painters to find something small and lightweight to work with and haul around, yet substantial enough to actually WORK with. The jury is still out on this little thing. It might be good for 'painting emergencies' in the car when the weather is too crummy to stand out in the stuff, but it's near impossible to manuever a palette knife around the edges of this thing. hmm. It IS light weight...Well the little sketch is just that- a color sketch for a much larger painting I plan to start. It is available for purchase from my Daily Painters Gallery.
posted by Roxanne Steed at
11:30 AM
4 Comments:
beautiful!
Thanks Norma! I know you remember standing here & seeing this place!
What is in your new "thumb box"? Did you put it together yourself or buy it already assembled? It sounds like it's easy to carry around.
Hi Mar; well, nothing is in the box for right now. I think even taking it anywhere to paint with, I'd put my paints, etc. in a separate bag. This little box has a hole on the bottom for your thumb to fit through, so you can hold it to paint with. My normal habit is to hold the knife or brush with my right hand, & a paper towel or rag or kleenex with the left hand, with the paint box on a tripod. But this little thing is meant to be held in your hand. I found trying to hold it wore out my hand so I ended up setting it on a table to paint. So either I have to learn some new habits, or give it up. It IS small & light but it does have its limitations. Over the years I've found there's not one "perfect" box, just different ones that suit you for different reasons. There's some that are close enough to 'perfect' ie,- good enough. This one was inexpensive, I had a 30% off coupon at the Utrecht store (they are having a back to school sale now for winter semester)- check them out online....they might have one listed there, don't know. It's sold under their store brand so it's not marked with any manufacturer that I can see. So far my favorite box for general purposes/traveling & painting is the EASyL (google Artworkessentials). There's nothing obstructing your paint strokes the way this holds your panel & the tripod they sell it with is heavy-duty/sturdy - has held up in all kinds of wind. Why do I look for a smaller set-up?...to shave off a few pounds when I want to carry stuff to a remote spot. But what you give up in one area gives you trouble in another...a difficult choice. Guerilla box is nice & sturdy, travels well, Lord knows the airlines have had plenty of opportunity to beat it up- but it still works great- I find it handy in some instances to use- but I do have that problem of the bottom edge being in the way of downward brush/knife strokes. I have not tried the Open-M boxes, they are pricey for me for now, but my friends that have them love to use them & swear they'd never use anything else! Good luck finding that balance!
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