Sneaky little studies

master gardener stuff- 6x8 oil study

   Out of pure guilt for wasteful possessions, I took my original 6x8 pochade box (bought 3 years ago but only used 3x in the 1st year... it was too small) from the cobwebs of the studio shelf. I have come to realize that at times there are events/places that I would like to paint but am not wanting to hoist around "the gear" and do a whole production of a 9x12 (or larger panel) but prefer a quick study... like a sketchbook. So in effort to work faster and paint more, last week I returned to my 6x8 set up and further tweaked the supplies so that it was an all in one carry out... to encourage me to take along oil paints more often/easily.
    I found a tiny turp bucket, sawed off the handles of small paint brushes, rigged a paint carry container within the ponchade and am using nice quality 6x8 loose canvas (like sheets of paper) taped to a lightweight  rigid substrate. Bingo- I'm back in business! While I do still bring a tripod and bolt the box to stand while painting,   this system does have a thumb hole where I may be able to work without a tripod. Furthermore the canvas sheets are maybe $1 for 3 sheets of that size opposed to $6-7 a panel for the 9x12 ampersand gessoboard of which I stopped buying last year when they passed $5. While last year my goal was to have the 9x12 plein air panel be the finished product, this year half of what I work on site are color sketch/references for possible bigger paintings in the future.
   While I am still using the 9x12  gessoboards for the events and client work or distant painting sessions (where I will probably only get one chance to go there and paint), I began this year's plein air season with my local group on the little format and actually got a nice little study. -G.A. painting more and paying less.