Ultra Portable Painting Kit

What do you call an all-in-one, super compact painting kit?

A THUMB BOX!!

Definition Thumb Box:  "A small box that contains painting materials, a panel for mixing colors, and a small canvas or boards and has a thumb hole or other device by wich it can be held upon the thumb like a palette to make a small sketch usually in oil." - Merriam-Webster

Among painters, a thumb box is sometime called a cigar box, since many a homemade thumb box has been made from a cigar box.  Well, that's precisely what I used to make mine.  You see, I like to tinker, so of course I made my own.  Since I didn't have any plans to follow, I began by finding a suitable cigar box.  Turns out there is demand for cigar boxes and the local smoke shop didn't have any to give or sell.  That's fine because I ended up finding a cool old one at the antique shop for $3 USD.  With box in hand, I knew the dimensions I had to work with and began scrounging together the wire and plastic scraps to complete my project.

If you want to make one for yourself, don't worry about plans and instructions, just get a box and design it around your needs.  The golden design rule "form follows function" is spot on!

I store four tubes of Gamblin's FastMatte oil paint (white, ultramarine blue, cad red light and cad yellow), two brushes with the handles cut down so they fit in the box, a palette knife and a little bit of Gamblin's solvent free gel in the box and keep the kit under the seat in my truck, along with a 5"x7" primed panel.  If I have a few minutes and an intriguing scene, I just grab the kit and paint!

Limited Palette As A Strategy

Swedish artist, Anders Zorn (1860-1920), produced many amazing paintings using a limited palette of colors*.  Having a limited selection of colors can simplify mixtures and improve color harmony within a painting.  I'll show you how I sometimes employ it as a strategy to achieve a desired outcome.

While I generally have a warm and cool of each primary plus white on my palette, from time-to-time a subject calls for a constraint of color choices.  For example, my vision for the painting below was to create a sense of the soft, cool, atmospheric conditions we see just after sunset in November, here in Colorado.  The sky is colorful but not too saturated and the overall feeling calls for values in the middle of the value range, not letting areas get too light or dark.  So, starting with a red, yellow and blue, I further constrained my options by tinting each with white to get a lighter, less saturated version from which I could no longer mix a dark, dark or a highly saturated color.  These three muted primaries + white then became the palette from which I painted "November Sky".

November Sky
10"x8" | Oil

This painting is available for purchase here

My muted three primaries

 *Here's a link to a great article on James Gurney's blog about the Zorn Palette.

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSave

Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel (Study)
11"X14" Oil on Linen Panel

The Stanley Hotel is in Estes Park, Colorado.  Built by F.O. Stanley (of Stanley Steamer fame) in 1909 to be one of the grandest hotels in the world.  It was originally painted yellow but I personally love the sharp, clean white and red combination.  Some of you may also know it was the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining" and parts of "Dumb and Dumber" were also filmed there.

I started this painting on location so as to really capture the early morning light.  I finished up the indication of windows and other details back in my studio.  I would like to make a much larger studio painting from this piece.

Click here to see it on my website.

Sunshine At Rainbow Lakes

"Sunshine at Rainbow Lakes"
6"x10" Oil on Linen mounted to Gatorboard

I painted this on location in the Colorado Rockies, Northwest from Boulder, Colorado.  It is oil paint on linen which is mounted to archival gator board.  All materials are of the highest quality and it has a protective varnish applied.  I have signed the front and back.  The painting measures 6"x10" and is mounted to a 10.5"x14.5" piece of black Gatorboard.  You can frame it or display it as is.

$99 Ebay Auction:
Sold, but you can see what's currently up for auction by clicking --> HERE <--

Blowing Snow - Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain from Sprague Lake

Here is my effort from Saturday.  I drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park specifically to paint at Sprague Lake.  Up at Sprague, which is probably about 10,000 ft elevation, the temp was in the 20's and the wind blew at a steady 20-30MPH.  It's often windy in RMNP in the winter so no problem and as for the cold, once I begin to paint I become so engrossed in capturing my subject that I don't notice it.  To combat the wind I sat on a log so I could keep my tripod low to the ground (I usually stand while painting).  I also hung my weighted backpack from the tripod.  That still wasn't enough so I did the entire painting while holding my tripod down with my left hand.  The wind gusts were so forceful that I had to keep the lid on my mineral spirits can to ensure it didn't spill if the wind took it.

Painting in these tough conditions challenges me to see just what I can do.  The reward is potentially twofold: 1. I just might convey some of the feeling and imagery from the amazing show nature is putting on, and 2. I become more conditioned to focus on the key stuff and eliminate the unnecessary...both in my painting of the concept and subject matter and in the materials I bring and use.  If the painting is a disaster, I note what I learned so I can apply it next time and I take a deep breath and acknowledge the blessing of spending a few hours truly immersed in nature, seeing and experiencing what many never do.

Last Light

Last Light by Scott Ruthven
24"x18" Oil on canvas

I painted this in the studio from an 12"x9" painting I did on site while hiking and camping in the Rainbow Lakes area West of Boulder Colorado.  While painting the plein air study, the setting sun was baking my face which was fine until it hit an angle that also reflected off of the lake.  At that point I couldn't see anything so I stopped painting and enjoyed the setting sun.

This painting is about the lifecycle of nature...acknowledging the strength and vibrancy of one living tree and the weathered remnant of another.  I've also painted in a cutthroat trout...can you find it?

Here is a picture of my son with one of these trout.  He fly fished while I painted.  Jake (my son) is purely a catch and release guy.  So fun to watch these trout come up from the depths to take a dry fly.

If you like fly fishing, check out Jake's blog at: http://finsonthefly.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your comments and "likes"

Hallett Peak

Hallett Peak by Scott Ruthven
20"x16" Oil on canvas

This majestic peak climbs to 12,713 feet in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The view I've painted is just above Dream Lake.  Hallett Peak sits right on the Continental Divide and really is breathtaking.

I'd love your feedback and thanks for the "Likes"

Simple Pleasures - Happy Valentine's Day!

Simple Pleasures by Scott Ruthven
8"x6" Oil on canvas panel

This was sure a fun still-life to paint.  The bold, solid colors on the bag contrast with the intricate shapes in the chocolate's foil wrapper.

Winter Marsh

Winter Marsh by Scott Ruthven
6"x8" Oil on linen

Colorado has bright, sunny days throughout winter.  Cold temps + bright sunshine make for lots of great scenes to paint.  The cold, dark water contrasting with the bright reeds attracted me to this scene.  I painted it on site.

Nearly Finished

14"x11" Oil By Scott Ruthven

I've painted this scene as a preliminary to a larger piece I hope to start this month.  I used photos and plein air paintings as sources for this work.  My focus was on composition and color shapes.  There are a few changes I will make to the larger work but before jumping into it I will let this one soak in for a while.

Brrrr

A little 5"x7" painted along side my car as the sun went down on a freezing cold day.

Riverside Sketch

Yesterday while the kids and I were walking the dog I found this view along the river.  The grasses behind the tree were warm and bright; glowing against the cool violet grays framing them.  So, I went back today after work and painted this study to capture the colors and some compositional details which I can us for a larger painting.

Moonrise

Moonrise by Scott Ruthven
8"x10" Oil on canvas board

Here's a plein air painting I did in the last 30 minutes of daylight.  It was only 9 degrees F but the light was so subtle and beautiful that I had to capture it.  The paint was so stiff I literally had to plow my size 10 flat in to paint and plaster it on.  This view is looking across a frozen lake at the moonrise.  Of course the photo wasn't able to depict the subtle color shifts.

Thanks for looking!

Colorado State Capitol

Gold Is In Your Future by Scott Ruthven
7"x5" Oil on panel

I painted this on location during the 2012 Denver Plein Air Arts festival.  The painting is 7"x5" and is mounted to a 8"x6" black panel so it "floats" in this 8"x6" elegant gold leaf frame.

Click here to see some in-process photos I took while painting this.
http://scottruthven.blogspot.com/2012/09/colorado-state-capitol-plein-air.html

Happy Halloween

Avery's Pumpkins by Scott Ruthven
24"x12" Oil on Canvas
SOLD

In this piece, I wanted to capture the vibrant colors and well defined shadows created by the intense late afternoon sun.  I like how the cast shadows made another set of pumpkin shapes too and there are some lovely reflected lights.  The corn and the ground plane were painted using layers of warm and cool transparent washes.

I'm working on a video to show the progression of this work.

Have a fun and safe halloween!

Afternoon In The Garden

Afternoon In The Garden by Scott Ruthven
10"x8" Oil on canvas panel

Sold

This is another piece I painted at the Grant Humphreys mansion during the Denver Plein Air Arts Festival in 2012.

The Three Kings

The Three Kings of Grant Humphreys By Scott Ruthven
10"x20" Oil on canvas panel

Sold

There is a famous mansion in Denver built in 1902 for James Grant, who had been the third Governor of Colorado.  Grant died in 1911 and his widow sold the neoclassical mansion to an oil baron, Albert Humphreys, in 1917.  The mansion now belongs to the Colorado Historic Society and it is also on the National Register of Historic Places.  Here's a link to the Wikipedia article.

The 2012 Denver Plein Air Festival held a paint-out at the mansion which I attended and painted another piece (I'll post about it another time).  On my way back to my truck I happened to turn and look up to the second story finding these three identical windows with their majestic lions.  I knew I had to paint them.  So, with the sun almost gone I started sketching one of the windows to get a feel for the complex ornamentation.  Needless to say, I had to make two more trips to the mansion to complete the painting.

 And, adding some water stains on the wall:

Colorado State Capitol - Plein Air

There's Gold In Your Future by Scott Ruthven
Colorado State Capitol 7"x5" Oil on Panel

I painted this picture of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver as the sun went down.  The sunlight reflecting off of the gold dome was so beautiful and warm which contrasted with the cool shadow areas beneath the trees and the constant stream of brake lights on Colfax Avenue.

The Bee Keeper

The Bee Keeper by Scott Ruthven
5"x7" Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD

Here's another piece in my small, plein air barns series.  The setting sun moved quickly tonight but I was able to mass in the darks and place a few warm lights in quickly so as to capture the effect.

Cactus

Cactus by Scott Ruthven
11"x14" Oil on Canvas Board

What a fun painting this was to paint!  The shadows intermingle with the form to create an interesting composition.  Varied edges and color temp changes lead the eye, create depth and define the center of interest.  The ground is full of texture created with palette knife and dry-brush techniques.  Touches of pure color on some of the spines and edges help create the sense of light.  I hope you like it!