Heilman box- tiny and wonderful!

Ooh la la, am I excited! I just received my new Heilman box in the mail! I keep going smaller with every box I buy. About 12 years ago I bought the medium box. Rather large in size it serves best in the studio. Next I moved to the backpack box, which I must admit I have 2. Each one has a different selection of brands of pastels. Now today I am the proud owner of the double sketchbox. Only 7.25x9.5x2.85. it's tiny and weighs under 5 pounds fully loaded. I placed the roll of masking tape to give you a reference point.
Last year when I saw Richard McKinley I noticed he had one. He filled it with his two Girault sets- 50 plein air and 50 neutral and friends. (of course the sticks were divided in half.) The rest of the space is filled with some of my other faves, Diane Townsend Terrages and a couple of Rembrandt's and Great Americans.
I am off to Mountain Maryland Plein Air for next week and am excited about my new box.  Since I am driving there I am bringing both backpack and sketchbox. I will let you know which is chosen and why when I return next week.
Links: Heilman boxes
           Girault pastels
           Diane Townsend pastels

reorganization of pastel box

I realized (finally) that dividing warm and cool / light and dark has been the way I approach a painting. So I finally decided to reorganize my palette. The columns of the far right and left are the grays, which I used to group together. As I use it I may reorganize the sticks, add or subtract. I ramped up the lights and darks when I noticed that my palette was heavy in the middle and too light on the ends.
What spurred this on? I noticed so many sticks in my box were used little and it didn't really suit the way I think- warm /cool.
My big question is pinks and magentas. Sometimes they seems just fine in cools sometimes in warms. As I say the sorting will continue.... maybe I just have too many pinks.
Have you had the urge to reorganize your palette or box? Why?
This is the trial run painting from the reorganization.

Hail to the Heilman (box, that is)

new box with larger pastels

old box with mostly nubs

my box, in action (See the easel attachment)

I have always loved my Heilman backpack pastel box. That box has seen a lot of action from bears in Virginia to peccaries in Costa Rica. It has been around. An indispensable friend would be the best way to describe it.

Recently I have a dilemma and have been wondering what to do. As my plein air pastel paintings become larger and larger I am finding the need to have bigger pastels. Let me explain. Richard has always called my box, a box filled with "nubs." He teases me in a nice kind of way. The size of the pastel did not matter to me before. Smaller pastels meant more choice on location. That was when my average plein air piece was 8x8. So now when I am working in a 18x9 and 20x10 I am seeing why the nubs are a disadvantage. I need more strokes to cover bigger areas and the paintings becomes "choppy."

So I thought about taking the whole box apart and replacing the nubs with larger pieces. But no, I like working with tiny pieces too. That's when I decide that I have so, so many pastels I could easily make up a new box! Did I have time before the plein air event? I would have to have it by Friday.

Marge Heilman to the rescue. I called her in California on Monday afternoon and she said, No problem." She would have it out immediately. Much to my surprise there it was, at more door, at noon today...a mere 48 hours later. WOW!

I just love this box. I love that it just attaches to my tripod and then has an easel arm attachment for the box (see above.) Less to carry. Sturdy and easy to pack. Now I will carry both boxes in my car and chose which one to use depending on the size of the painting!

If you don't have a box, I highly recommend buying this one. This is my third: 2 backpack boxes and 1 large (studio box.) Buy it here.

You can see that this new box is filled with mostly Giraults (my favorites), some Diane Townsend Terrages and a couple Mount Visions, Unisons and Creatacolor. Two rows of neutrals still control the box. There is a small section of "whites" intentionally placed below the darkest blues. This reminds me of the full range of value. These colors are saved for accents or else a painting looks chalky.

That's it for now. Toodles!

the power of contrast and cleaning the box

 The power of contrast can not be ignored. Each color looks different depending upon the colors adjacent. Remember, simultaneous contrast is just as important in your box as it is on your painting, it affects your choices. The neutralized orange (with wrapper) looks much more appealing next to the grays rather than the colors with more chroma. That is why when I organize my pastel box I have two rows of magnificent grays. They make the chroma in the painting work.

Here is my cleaned box. Late yesterday I cleaned and organized my box ready for more plein air work. My choice in boxes is the Heilman backpack box- small and sturdy.
Below see one of my cleaning methods- a large piece of screen wrapped over the box. With the  screen in place I can vacuum the box and my precious pastels are still protected!

Clean the Box Day, celebrate it if you wish!

Today was my annual "clean the box day." I must admit I am not a cleanliness freak (did I hear some giggles?) But once a year, a day I dread, I take everything out of my plein air box. I wash the foam inserts and scrub the box clean. Then I gently clean each pastel and assess the need for its presence or replacement. My impetus was the arrival of my new Terrages and Thin Lines. Since I use only the Heilman backpack box space is a premium. It measures only 10.5" x 13.5".
I must admit I feel incomplete when I am not able to do my daily painting. It truly is my vitamin. I continue work on the large gorge painting. :-)