Oil Material List

Panels
There are several sources of panels for traveling abroad. 
Weight is a consideration when flying, so good quality panels also have to be light.
You can use Ray Mar panels  found at www.raymarart.com.

You can also create your own panels by having mahogany wood ( Luan / skin door)  cut to your dimensions by the local lumber supply.  Home made boards are the best quality but they are time consuming to produce. You can provide yourself with a variety of surfaces and  colors.

You can either use one or two coats of gesso or one coat of acrylic matte medium which will preserve the color and the texture of the wood or you can glue canvas onto it.
You  can make a wash on the gesso or canvas with retouch varnish stained in a neutral color.
It takes 6 months for this varnish to be dry and totally stable when using paint thinner and rubbing.
If you stain with colored turpenoid it will dry to a stable state within 10 days.
You can also use transparent acrylic for a stain, that will dry within a few hours. The point is to keep it very liquid and let it drip like a watercolor wash so it is totally transparent, and it has to be a neutral and light color.

Other Options
It is possible to carry canvas of good quality, like 12 oz. gessoes duck canvas.  Cut it to your size requirements with an inch extra all around. Clearly mark your painting dimensions so you know where you are at when you paint.
In a 12 day  workshop it is possible to start with canvas which you will mount on panels on location, we have a lot of these support panels in Provence - let them dry. By the second  week of the workshop you can use your rigid panels and they will be transported in your carrying box.

Carrying Box
Our preference goes to the light and sturdy box made by Artwork essentials. It has adjustable storage and is easy to carry. It is also a very competitive price.
www.artworkessentials.com
Speaking of carrying, we love their backpack. It is very well done to store their equipment  (pochade, tripod, wet panels box )  and  comfortable to carry around.
When traveling it is a good idea to keep everything compact together and this backpack is marvelous.

Ray Mar also has a wet panels box, very light, not as solid nor so handy.
You have to make a comparative study to suit your personal needs.
www.raymarart.com

Another solution is to get the beautiful box from Mbox. Unbreakable, a real piece of art. More expensive and heavy, can carry up to 30 panels. Actually there is 2 types of carrying boxes made by Open Box M. The black walnut box is excellent as well but more limited in capacity.
You can get more information at www.openboxm.com
In the Provence workshop you can expect to paint about 15 oil paintings or more, depending on your speed and  proficiency.
In addition to that, we will do tons of drawings and watercolor sketches, but those are very easy to carry back home.


Easel
Assuming that you already have either a field box, Mabef or the like,  either a full box or a half box, it is workable. It is just more cumbersome and heavy.
If you have a pochade, of course it is preferable to take that one.
So it comes down to a budget matter. If you can do it, the best set up is to get the box and Bogen tripod from Artwork essentials. I would recommend the Easyl VERSA, with the palette 12 X 16, and a backpack to keep all your things together. It makes it compact, orderly and easy to carry to painting locations. It all fits in there.


Paint
It is recommended that you use the brand you are accustomed to. Being away from your usual environment, addressing totally new subject matter and color is enough of a challenge. As much as possible your material should be familiar and easy to use. At the exception of the violet,  Carbazole Violet  - Dioxazine Purple - necessary for the lavender fields - your colors can be the ones you normally paint with.
You have to have at least these basic colors:

Titanium White
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Orange
Cadmium Red Light
Transparent Red Oxide
Ultramarine Blue
Cobalt blue
Phthalo Green / Viridian
Payne's Grey / Black
Alizarin Crimson
Carbazole Violet

Optional colors
Cadmium Yellow Light
Hansa Yellow Orange
Cerulean Blue
Quinacridone Red
Quinacridone Violet

To accelerate the drying time of your oils, you can use  a white Alkyd, such as the White from Griffin Alkyd colors ( Winsor Newton)
All the alkyd colors are compatible with the regular oil colors.
The workshop also has at hand some Japan / Cobalt dryer that you can use.


Paper towels

Paint thinner
The workshop will, at cost, provide the paint thinner you need since it is not possible to transport it with you by airline.  We have found a paint thinner that is very low odor as long as we do not recycle it.  We have a system in place to dispose of it.

Paint thinner jar
Stainless steal brush washer, in the accessories page
www.artworkessentials.com

Support boards
the workshop will provide every participant with enough support boards to mount your painting panels, and support boards for you to put your paper on to draw.