“A sudden gust of wind can take down your whole setup, leaving all your favorite pastels in pieces on the ground,” warns Florida artist Shawn Dell Joyce, who’s on the faculty for the upcoming Pastel Live. “Since I teach plein air painting classes on the beach, and compete in areas with unpredictable weather, I’ve learned to take a few precautions against sudden storms. To start, I don’t put all my sticks in one box attached to my easel. Instead, I keep my pastels in a toolbox that can be secured easily and expands when open to show the entire range of contents. This box can be positioned lower than an easel box and sits on top of a carrier that is heavy enough to withstand wind.
“The toolbox has small compartments that work perfectly for my pastel organization system. I arrange the top trays according to value and color temperature, with warm neutrals from white to black labeled Warm 1, Warm 2, Warm 3, etc., as well as cool neutrals in five values, and sky gradations in three values. I keep my primary and secondary colors in the lower level of the box, and use beach sand in the containers to gently abrade the sides of the sticks and keep them clean. The sand has the added benefit of cushioning my pastels to reduce breakage. (I’ve used corn meal in the past for this purpose when I lived up North, but bugs are attracted by corn in the South, so I substituted sand.)
“I carry about 250 sticks in my toolbox, but I don’t use all of them on each painting. I start with a quick color study to determine which pastels I’ll use for a specific piece. These are the only ones I keep in the small tray attached to my easel (I call this area ‘VIP seating’). If the easel blows over, I may lose a small handful of pastels, but not all of them.
“My plein air setup includes a tripod and tool Packout with wheels that carries all my teaching materials, first aid kit, and other items I need on location. I use bungee cords to keep it all together as I schlep my equipment from my van to the painting site. Once I’m set up, I use the bungee cord to attach the easel tripod to a tree, fence, or the Packout for added stability.
“I also use pastel boards instead of paper. Paper pads and paper taped to boards can sometimes lift up in the wind. After having chased my paintings down the beach more than once, I switched to boards, which are heavier, don’t blow off, can withstand light rain without buckling, and lay flat in frames regardless of the humidity.”
Join Shawn Dell Joyce and other master pastel painters from around the world at Pastel Live, September 18-24, 2024, for more tips, tricks, and techniques!
This is a brilliant idea for pastelling plein air from a very experienced teacher. Thanks!