Sketching and painting outside is a very different affair to having a lovely table and being indoors. That said there are ways to minimise what you need to bring to get the most out of the day in June and a small list is the way to star
I have been asked whether we are using watercolours or acrylics. There is no set theme, whatever you would prefer; they are both water based and are quite portable. There are benches at Borde Hill to sit on.
Paper for Watercolour and Acrylic
Enough paper to see you through a couple of sketches or paintings. Dividing up paper into A5 sizes can be useful and using a board slightly bigger to tape it to is recommended. If you would like to paint on a larger scale bear in mind that you may have a slight wind to contend with! Tip: bring your cut to size paper, pile it all on top of each other on the board, tape all of it in a pile on the board and then as you go you can take the top one off to reveal the next. Bring along bulldog clips to clip paper to the board on the other side
Watercolour paints:
Colours: if you have a box of colours then bring that and a small spray bottle (very useful). Bring along a flat palette that is not too small. Tube colour: choose 2 yellows, 2 blues, 2 reds, 1 pink and 1 purple, 1 green. A Big John Palette (available at Jacksons art online) is great for this type of thing as you have a big space to work on and you can put all your colours out in the wells before you come. If not just bring the colours in a small bag.
Acrylic: a stay wet palette is ideal. Or make your own out of a lidded container such as an ice-cream tub, plenty of kitchen roll dampened with a layer or greaseproof paper over. A spray bottle is recommended. Colours: choose 2 yellows, 2 blues, 2 reds, 1 pink and 1 purple, 1 green plus white
Acrylic boards: these are quite portable and slot easily into a bag
Water: bring along a water bottle for your paints. Don't forget a yoghurt pot for your water
Brushes: 2 or 3 at the most - think size, small, medium and large, water brushes are great
Pens and pencils? Keep it to a minimum and think about how it will work with the paints i.e. watercolour pencils work well with acrylic and watercolours. Acrylic pens (white) are useful for watercolours
Extras: a small portable seat that you can take on the coach with you (only small please) otherwise there are benches to sit on, kitchen roll for painting, a small cushion if you prefer to the seat, suitable sun hat if hot. A small viewfinder is very useful to look through (make your own from a piece of card) watch the video here
There is a lovely cafe to get refreshments from. A picnic is part of the day and is being organised by me so no need to worry about carrying any of that.