I remember when I wanted to make my first plein air setup. I didn’t know anyone personally who was trying to paint plein air, but I didn’t want to have to reinvent the wheel. I scoured the internet looking for clues about how to do things. There wasn’t much out there, but those videos that I did find were an incredible boon to me. So I decided to make a series of explanatory videos about my current set up, in an attempt to pay it forward. Hopefully, some of the knowledge I’ve gathered from trying things out (and failing!) will be of value to others.

If you’re interested in purchasing prefabricated setups, I refer you to an earlier post I made, where I shared links to various products. If you’re interested in various alternatives, you might like to check out some of the other, simpler versions I’ve had over the years- version 1 (from 2014) and version 2 (from 2017)- as well as this post about the ways other painters have set things up. If you take a peak at the post about the setups of other painters, its easy to see the inspiration for my current setup.

Speaking of which, the gist about my setup is this- Just about everything I use to paint resides in my backpack. If I’m painting plein air, everything really does. If I’m painting in the studio, then I can use various pigments and put them in a side dish or whatnot (I have an enamel butchers tray), but generally speaking, I use the exact same set up. This post is all about my primary setup— both what’s in it, and I how I made some of it by hand. The second post will feature an additional video that’s all about the contraption I made to be able to paint on a full sheet standing up.

As for cost, I’d say the current setup costs about 500$, but that includes some splurges- a fancy backpack I got in Europe, and the new side arm I got for the tripod. My earliest versions cost around 100$ to make. Back then I had a larger tripod and I used an old backpack. So, of course, as I’ve gotten more serious about painting, I’ve spent more too. But you can make a perfectly adequate setup for relatively cheap.

It’s also worth saying that despite the changes to my setup, many elements have stayed the same for years. I’m still using the same backpack from 5 or more years ago, the same Mijello palette, the same water dishes, the same type of gatorfoam board, many of the same models of brushes (just new ones), etc. Some of the basics still work just as well now as they did then, and I’ve not felt any reason to change them up.

I’ll be sharing links to equipment below the video. This video, by the way, was edited by my wife, who did a far better job than I could ever have done. Thank you, Kate! I’m a lucky boy. And without further ado…