Sketch Marathon Day 18: A Long Walk

Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage at Discovery Park - a plein air painting by Simon Bland

Field Study: Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage 6x9, oil on linen panel. 2016

To paint this sketch I had to walk the three mile round trip to the beach while carrying all my painting gear.

I've been trekking increasingly further distances this past month and I think I've pared down my supplies and equipment to the bare minimum. Gone is the brush washer, the utility tool, and the palette scraper. The camera stays in the studio. The tubes of paint with just a few squeezes left in them are preferred over the ones that are full. The tube of Holbein violet grey was used up last week and not replaced because it was heavy. In short, the kit is down to the bare bones. And it's wonderfully freeing to paint that way.


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