As I was potting around in my studio yesterday, I realized that I’d omitted an important post in my “how to” compilation on my website. Until recently, this was the most-read of all my posts.
If I were asked to list the most important incidental skills for a plein air painter, they would include cleaning brushes, packing efficiently, and drawing (of course). But I would add a skill taught to me by my former studio assistant, Sandy Quang.
Every artist worth his or her salt carries plastic shopping bags. They can be recycled in any number of ways: as trash bags, as emergency wrappers for damaged tubes of paint, or to schlep dirty brushes back home. I always have three in my backpack and another half dozen in my teaching bag. They’re really annoying in their natural state, however.
Folding them in neat little pellets makes them easier to manage. It really takes only a second and is far easier than carrying them loose.