Carl Judson - Guerrilla Painter Notebook

Beach Cartoons

A friend and fellow painter has a house overlooking a beach in Bermuda. It was the yearly trips to paint with my friend that first got me motivated to build a nohassle,
travel-proof painting kit.

Each year, with high hopes, I’d build a new version, only to have it broken in my luggage, blow over on the pavement and smash, or to arrive home with my paintings
stuck together.

Over time I perfected the design, and for years now I have been ready to go painting anywhere at a moment’s notice.

Beach Cartoon
Bermuda
Carl Judson © 1996
Oil on carton, 6" x 8".

I have my box with me almost always, whether running errands in town or on a trip overseas. As a result, I frequently paint something outdoors everyday.

I have completed hundreds of small plein air paintings over the years and owe much of my development as a painter to simple and convenient equipment, which
makes it possible to paint almost any subject, anytime, anywhere.

Marriotteers
Bermuda
Carl Judson © 1996
Oil on carton, 6" x 8".

With my box, I can paint small plein air paintings on my lap in my car, on a park bench, in a café or bar, tucked away on a doorstep, or boldly, out in the open with the box mounted on a camera tripod.

No One's Coming
Bermuda
Carl Judson © 1998
Oil on carton, 7½" x 10".

Teenagers
Bermuda
Carl Judson © 1997
Oil on carton, 7½" x 13".

One of the things I most enjoy painting in Bermuda is the crowd on the beach. (Back at home, I take my box to figure drawing sessions in order to hone the skill
to include people in my plein air paintings.)

The beach is a great place to practice. Shown here are some of my small plein air people paintings from the beach in Bermuda.

I often adopt a lighthearted, or comical treatment of the people on the beach.

I painted most of these while sitting in nearby beach chairs with my pochade box nestled unobtrusively in my lap.

I have some favorite surfaces
for these little plein air people paintings: One is museum board primed with gray acrylic gesso; the
other is a resin sized carton board, which I prime with acrylic matte medium. I think that it needs special care from an archival standpoint, so secure mounting
to a permanent surface with an archival (and reversible) adhesive
is something I make sure to do.