Anyone painting on the road in an rv? Setup? Storage?
I’m not, but I’m pretty sure an artist named Chris Long does. He regularly posts his work here.
I do, we have an airstream and I keep paints, pastels and paper in my tow vehicle. I paint both plein air and not using a plein air set up!
I have not painted while traveling in an RV, but it is my dream to do this! Travel and paint! I have thought about how to do this, and for my oil paintings I would just paint on canvas sheets, oil paper, or multimedia art board. All light weight and easy to store. Hope this is in my future!
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Susan, are you traveling with oil paints? Or some other?
If oils, what do you do with wet paintings?
Looking for the best solution to that ongoing issue.
Many thanks, Karen
Hi Karen,
I plan on doing some oils this year, but will limit (and I use water mixable very thin, Charlie Hunter thin or with some fast dry medium). My favorite medium is pastels and I use clear bags for them. I also do watercolors and gouache. Oil’s will be the challenge! Good luck!
I travel with my art supplies. On the road, I work with acrylics, because they dry faster than the oils. I have a set of Open Slow Drying Acrylics that I use along with the heavy body acrylics. With this set, I can paint wet in wet and wet in dry, and you can combine both of these techniques into one painting. If you have a color beneath that you don’t want to blend with the next layer of color, but maybe you are laying on a transparent color, and you simply want the color below to show through a bit, then you paint wet on dry. If you have a layer of color that you want your next color to blend with, then blend wet in wet. I have oils at home to work with, but sometimes at home I still paint with my acrylics because I have more control of my paints with the drying times. And I have paintings that if I don’t record if they are oils or acrylics, I can’t tell them apart. I have to look for where I write it down. And when I first started finding this out, I was certainly surprised and so glad, because I wanted the look of oils in my paintings.
Karen,
I did paint with oils this trip and simply used a large foam mat to lay the small panel on. Worked great…secret was to use water soluble, paint thin and use liquin to hasten the drying time. I did purchase a wet panel carrier to try this next trip. I’ll let you know how it goes.This was a painting in oils done on the trip.fullsizeoutput_2052|666x500
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We upgraded to a toyhauler. The garage area is perfect to have a studio on the road. I am participating in Plein Air Events and it is awesome. I am a watercolor artist. My panels that I paint on for the events are premade, before we depart. Once finished they are sealed with spray varnish. Then simply popped into the frame, add hanging wire and off to the show/ competition. I have just added an advertisement to the slide out to let people who happen by while parked that it is OK / Inviting contact. I am expanding by taking a handful of things with me (prints and a couple paintings) to sell.
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Nice! I tried painting with pastels and oil’s on the road, but found it a little tricky until we set up a screen porch. Even then, I had to put it all away daily. Keeps you neat and tidy, but not very fun.
My husband & I are retired and full-time RVers. We stay 6 mos FL, then CA. Bi-coastal grandparents!! Lol 
The “dining room” is my art studio. I only paint small (mostly 5x7”) and on panels, using water mixable oils…I like Cobra. I use a 3-tier cooling rack to let them dry. Number them, put in plastic sleeve, and store in uniform boxes.
I enjoy drawing landscapes on the road when we go camping. I love using colored pencils to create vibrant illustrations because they have drawing pencils’ ease of use and the pop of color paint and watercolor. Colored pencils are a fuss-free combo of both, so I can do sketching without having to set up paint palettes or multiple tins of water.