The Golden Rule: Pack Light

Before we get into specific gear, the most important principle in outfitting yourself for plein air painting is this: the lighter your kit, the more locations become accessible, the less fatigued you'll be, and the more focused you can stay on painting. Every piece of gear should earn its place in your bag.
Many beginners make the mistake of bringing too much. A master painter can create a stunning work with five colors, three brushes, and a small panel. You don't need everything — you need the right things.

The Easel: Your Most Important Purchase

Your easel — or pochade box setup — is the heart of your plein air kit. There are two main categories to consider:

• French Easel: A classic, all-in-one design with legs, a canvas holder, and a storage drawer. Heavier than modern alternatives, but familiar and widely available. Good for painting close to your car.
• Pochade Box + Tripod: A compact box that holds your palette and clips to a camera tripod. Much lighter and more packable than a French easel. The preferred setup for most serious plein air painters today.
• Gloucester-Style Easel: A four-legged, low-to-ground easel. Very stable in wind, excellent for large work, but heavy and difficult to carry long distances.

💡 PRO TIP: If you're buying your first setup, a mid-range pochade box (like the Guerrilla Painter or Sienna Plein Air) paired with a decent aluminum tripod is an excellent starting point. You can always upgrade later.

Pochade Boxes: The Modern Plein Air Standard

The pochade box has become the go-to setup for most contemporary plein air painters. These compact, self-contained boxes combine your palette and panel holder in one unit, attach to any camera tripod, and pack down small enough to fit in a backpack.

Popular models include the Guerrilla Painter 9x12 (lightweight, affordable, great for beginners), the Sienna Plein Air pochade (mid-range, excellent build quality), the Strada Easel (aluminum construction, airline-safe, beloved by travelers), and the Alla Prima Yellowstone Lite (wooden, larger palette, excellent for oil painters).
When choosing a pochade box, consider: maximum panel size supported, total weight when loaded, palette size, and whether it has storage compartments for brushes and supplies.

New Wave u.go Plein Air | Anywhere Pochade Box, 8.4"x11.25"x1.25" Inches, Plein Air Easel, Painting Easel, Art Easel

Tripods: The Unsung Hero of the Plein Air Kit

A tripod is the foundation everything sits on — and it's the piece of gear that beginners most often underestimate. A cheap, wobbly tripod is one of the most common sources of frustration for new plein air painters. It shifts in the wind, slips on slopes, and turns a simple setup into a constant battle.

What to look for in a plein air tripod: lightweight construction (aluminum or carbon fiber), a ball head with a quick-release plate so you can attach and detach your pochade box in seconds, adjustable leg angles for uneven terrain, and enough height to let you paint comfortably while standing.

Below are three well-regarded options across different price points. 

K&F Concept 64" Lightweight Tripod

Most Affordable
2.54 pounds

Carrying Your Gear: Bags, Backpacks & Wheeled Carts

Getting your kit from the car to the painting spot is half the battle. The right carrying solution makes the difference between arriving relaxed and ready to paint versus arriving sweaty, sore, and already frustrated before you've touched a brush.

There are two main approaches: backpacks (for hikers and those who need both hands free) and wheeled carts (for painters who work near paved paths or want to haul more gear without the strain). Some painters keep both — a lightweight pack for hiking days and a cart for festival week.

Key things to look for: enough internal volume for your pochade box, tripod, panels, and supply bag; exterior attachment points or straps for a tripod or wet panel carrier; durable, weather-resistant construction; and comfortable carry straps for longer hauls.

Paints: Oil, Watercolor, Acrylic, or Pastel?

All four major painting media work outdoors, but each has specific advantages and tradeoffs for plein air use:

• Oil Paint: The traditional plein air medium. Rich color, long working time, blends beautifully. The downside is that wet panels need to be transported carefully and oils require solvents for cleanup.
• Watercolor: Extremely portable — a small travel palette and a water bottle are all you need. Dries quickly (a pro and a con). Very popular for urban sketching and quick outdoor studies.
• Gouache: Opaque watercolor that dries quickly and can be reworked when re-wet. Popular for contemporary illustrators and designers who paint outdoors.
• Pastel: No brushes, no cleanup, no wet panels. Pastels are one of the fastest plein air media. Requires a fixative and careful transport of finished work.

A Recommended Beginner Oil Palette

If you're starting with oils, here's a versatile limited palette to begin with: Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Orange, Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, and Viridian Green. You can mix virtually any color you'll encounter outdoors from these eight paints.

Brushes, Panels, and Other Essentials

For brushes, start with three to five flat or filbert brushes in sizes ranging from a half-inch to one inch. Larger brushes encourage simplification and work more quickly. You can add smaller brushes for detail later.

For painting surfaces, linen or canvas panels are ideal for plein air use — they're rigid, lightweight, and won't buckle or warp. Pre-primed boards work well and come in convenient sizes.

Don't forget: a painting umbrella (essential for managing light on your canvas), a palette knife for mixing, a small jar of odorless mineral spirits or walnut oil, paper towels, and a plastic bag for transporting wet panels.