What's in the Bag?

Hiking allows me to get to places to paint I can't reach any other way. Besides, I enjoy hiking. It's an important part of learning about the landscapes I paint, and about myself. The leather bag pictured above will hold any of my 6" x 8" or 8" x 10" pochade boxes. You can read earlier posts about my pochade boxes here and here. This bag is made from chap tan leather. Along with that, I carry another leather bag with additional plein air painting equipment. Here"s a picture of that bag:

Small pochade boxes only hold so much. What won't fit in the box goes into the other bag. Here's what's in the other bag:

This is the same photo with numbers added. The following list has corresponding numbers and tells what all the items are. Remember, you can click on any of these pictures for a larger image:

1. The bag.
2. Paper towels in a plastic bag.
3. Apron. Keeps paint off of my clothes...usually.
4. Plastic shopping bags to use for trash bags. I keep a few of them on hand.
5. Extra paint solvent. This has saved my painting outings more than once!
6. Walnut oil, if ever I use it.
7. Liquin. I rarely use it.
8. Brush washer with paint solvent. Gets used a lot.
9. Small container of brush cleaning soap.
10. This slides into my homemade 8" x 10" pochade boxes when I want to paint in a vertical format instead of a horizontal one.
11. This screws onto a camera tripod and holds my little Julian thumb box, which doesn't have a tripod attachment.
12. 4" x 6" canvas panel. Fits in my homemade 6" x 8" pochade boxes.
13. 6" x 6" canvas panel. I keep these tiny panels for the rare occasions when I want to paint smaller than 6" x 8".
14. Hook for hanging brush washer from a pochade box or easel, and a spare. These are made from a coat hanger.
15. Collapsible mahl stick made from an antenna from a no-longer functioning boom box.
16. Small plastic bag which holds spare hardware for easel or paintbox, rubber bands, extra business cards and whatnot. Not sure I need the whatnot.

With these two bags slung over each shoulder, a day pack with every thing I need for a day in the mountains, a camera tripod in one hand and granola bars in my pocket, I'm ready for a day painting in remote places. For me, pochade painting and hiking go hand-in-hand. Maybe I'll have a future post about hiking.