Plein Air Paint-Outs & Lessons Learned ( not quite... )
I am ready to start the summer painting season with a BANG! I anticipate my planned plein air events with optimistism, armed with all the skills, tools and lessons-learned that come with years of doing this "thing". I am confident that for many reasons, this year's events will be ... well, simple(r)!
I will be prepared with a well-organized, minimal set of material, tools and supplies (a great leap from my past experience): paper or canvas cut to a standard size, one type of media/paint, matts/frames in a standard size (that of my support), just one of my easels, and a few tools (because i know the sizes) for framing, ready to hang in the show.
I will paint quickly, capturing that "moment in time", then moving on to a 2nd or 3rd painting.
I will paint using light, bright, fresh colors.
|
|
Actually I must confess, the season kicked off a couple weeks ago, with the first Grand Traverse Bay Area event, "Leland Air" in Leland, MI. I found that I am STILL my same old disorganized self, in my Let's-make-everything-a-challenge approach to painting en plein air! Not only did I (as usual)... load the Yukon XL (yup, eXtra Large) with practically everything that I've ever used (or might use) to create, mount/matt and frame paintings using media to be decided on location, in whatever size/shape I happen to paint, presented in just-the-right frame chosen from a wide selection of sizes and profiles, for the customary Wet Paint Exhibit and Sale (run-on sentence to continue...),
but I also repeated two of my pesky plein air habits, destroying my mission for the day, which was to... A) paint more than one, overworked, shadow-chasing painting; and B) to avoid using my dark,dark pastels (which do not look very dark in sunlight), resulting in (surprise) a dark painting! Sooooo, there we have it. Picture here, a single, dark (ok, i exaggerated a little) painting. It'll be better next time! |
|
Onward to the 2nd great plein air adventure... "Great Lakes Bay En Plein Air, 2017", a week-long festival hosted by the Saginaw Art Museum! Having participated in this event in 2015, I'm excited to do it again! The Event begins on Monday, June 13 with check-in and Canvas-stamping. It runs through Saturday, June 17, when completed, matted/Framed works from the week will be turned in for a "wet paint" sale/exhibit and reception to kick off an exhibit with accepted works, running through the Summer. |
My Very Wet living quarters, "Great Lakes Bay..., 2015 |
|
|
Stay Tuned for...
Reports from the Plein Air Front & News on more 2017 events!
Northport Plein Air, late July
Glen Arbor PaintOut, Early August
Traverse City, Late August
D o A r t !
1 Response to Plein Air Paint-Outs & Lessons Learned ( not quite... )
Leave a Comment