Primer for Plein Air: Part 3 / Paints, Pastels and Papers

You don't need more than a few colors.

My simplest oil kit—three colors plus white, three brushes and a little container of odorless mineral sprits. (Guerrilla Painter 8x10 Cigar Box by Judson’s Art Outfitters, paint and OMS by Gamblin Artist Colors.)

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So...how many tubes of paint or how many pastels should you take into the field?

With oil paint, the answer can be as simple as four tubes: a white plus the three primary colors. And, as I mentioned before, you might not need to take any tubes at all if you prep your palette in advance. Pastels are a bit trickier, in that you need to have not just the three primaries but also the secondary colors, all in a range of value and hardness.