Painting From A Demo Study

Studio painting from a demo, 9x12 on panel

 Last Sunday I did a demo for the Syracuse Pastel Artists at Barry Park, Meadow Brook in Syracuse. I was asked to talk about my approach to painting en plein air, and to emphasize the point that one of the many reasons for painting outdoors is to challenge oneself with a new scene, I chose to paint a path instead of the pond which I have painted so many times.

The pic below shows how far I got with it. I had prepared my own masonite board but made the mistake of sanding the last layer of Colourfix primer which resulted on a board that was so smooth that could not hold much pastel. The result was a very loose painting but with enough information for me to try reproduce it back at home.

Pastel demo, en plein air. 9x12 panel

Doing a demo while talking and explaining the process is very different from just painting for oneself.  For one thing, there is the pressure to perform. I tried to vocalize what was going on in my brain as much as possible, with the advantage that when I asked myself a question my audience helped with an answer!

My thanks to those present at the demo and those of you reading this post!

En Plein Air Painting - Some Successes and Failures

The Deer Place - 6th painting, on brown Colourfix paper, 9x12"

 Next week it's the Canandaigua Plein Air event, and being one of the participants, I have been preparing for it by painting outdoors as much as I can.

Painting outdoors could be fun and easy if you have the right set up and are prepared. With practice, you learn to think on the spot. Very fast you learn to determine what the best composition is, how you are going to handle the masses and the values in the painting, and even where to place your set up. In addition, you learn to foresee the possible questions that passers-by might ask you, so you have an answer ready. 

This year a friend and I have formed a plein air group of sorts. There are 6 of us now, and we have been painting at least once a week in the last month. I'm very happy at the level of commitment we all seem to have.
I'm going to share with you my failures (because that's how it started), and successes of what I have painted on location so far this year.

 First One:
There is no doubt that one gets rusty during the winter months! I really forced myself to paint outdoors and not wanting to go far I decided our orchard was a good place to start. However, for a first attempt, the scene was too complicated and the sun was in front of me. A simplified version or a close up of the flowers would have been better.

1st One on La Carte paper

2nd One: 
This one was painted with the group at Franklin Square. Nice, encouraging atmosphere and wonderful colors. While painting I felt I was nailing the scene down. Back home I was so disheartened!  Could it be that I was painting under too strong a shade? Maybe with some work I could fix it. Or...I could use this as a reference for a larger scene. Well, not all effort is wasted as I really enjoyed that day.

2nd One at Franklin Square, Colourfix paper

 3rd One
This one was done at the Green Bridge, Old Forge, close to noon time with my friend Joann and a friend of hers. The bottom version is how I fixed it back in the studio. I'm still not happy with the tall tree on the right. Wallis board 12x9"

 

By the Green Bridge, 12 x9" Wallis board

4th One
 These two were done at Labrador Pond with the group. There were so many beautiful scenes but there was vegetation obstructing the view.  It was cloudy but peaceful and the birds were singing.

 After the first one I felt like painting this other view. By switching to Canson paper I automatically felt less pressure: it was going to be a "drawing" more than a painting. This one will be a good reference for a studio version.

5th One
At Green Lakes State Park with the group. There were too many choices to paint but not one of them struck me as great, so I settled for this location under the shade. I consider it "a painting for the sake of painting."

Poison Ivy, Ampersand Pastelbord 12 x 9"

6th One:
It's the one on top, and also from Green Lakes State Park. I fell in love with the place the first time I saw it when the group went scouting for other areas to paint. While painting it, the small bush on the right started to get more and more important with the light hitting just the top.
Here is a pic of my set up, the Art Attack3, which unfortunately is not manufactured any longer by Willow Wisp Farms.

If this post encourages you to paint outdoors, I've done my work!

The Rock Garden, en plein air, 9" x 12"

My friend MaryBeth and I went painting this morning to her next-door neighbor's garden. She had told me about this garden before but I didn't imagine it had so much to offer!

This scene with black-eyed Susan, mullein, and globe thistle, was the first one that caught my attention, so after scouting for a while I figured I needed some practice painting foregrounds and this one offered the perfect setting.

From the very beginning my goal was to practice, not to produce a finished painting; that took so much pressure off and I'm happy with the results.

Redbuds, en plein air, 9" x12"

This is my 3rd plein air painting this year, and so far, the only one I'm happy with.

One thing my 1st one taught me was to paint the center of interest right away. I wanted a blooming peach tree among the delicate green of leafing apple trees, but the painting ended up being about the old, tall house behind my orchard because that's where I started!

I'm not sure exactly what my 2nd has taught me... Everything came out being too colorful, so perhaps to beware of painting under complete shade when your subject is in full sun? I just hope to get the chance to practice some more this year.

This wonderful garden in the middle of a city block belongs to my friend Parmalee and her husband. The garden is the setting for her photographs.

First Plein Air of the Year

Green Lakes in Spring, 9"x12"
A friend recently got a new easel and she wanted to try it outdoors so she suggested we go painting somewhere. I don't think we could have chosen a better place than Green Lakes State Park.

I have painted there before and I'm always fascinated by how fast the water changes on a breeze day. In the hour and a half we stood at the spot I figured I could have painted that scene in at least ten different ways.

Fog at McCauley Mt, Adirondacks, 12" x 9"

Last October, I was invited to participate in a two-weekend plein air paint out and auction to support the Arts Center at Old Forge. The only day I was able to participate turned out to be drizzly and foggy. We were given some locations to choose from, so I headed for McCauley Mt. since I had never been there. I had to work from the back of my van because the drizzle had turned into rain. Half an hour into my painting, the sun came out, and a little later hordes of people started to head for the chair lifts to enjoy the great fall colors. I had good time talking to a group of Amish or Mennonite women who showed interest in what I was doing and seemed fascinated by the pastel sticks.

When I considered the painting done, I headed to another location to start another scene. I ended up donating my second painting because although I liked the first one more, I knew it was not quite right yet.

At home, I did several changes to the painting, and still was not satisfied with the results. Finally, I realized what the problem was. The change in weather conditions at the time, had made me change colors in the middle of my work, and mentally, I was fighting with what I wanted to represent. After serious consideration, I decided to paint what had struck me the most, which was the fog coming down the mountain.

The View from Barker Rd, Otisco, plein air, 13" x 19"

Few places have inspired me so much like the area of Otisco, on Rt 80. So far I have been there only in the summer and early fall, but what has struck me the most is that everywhere one looks there is a scene worth painting.

This painting means a lot to me. It was the first time I tried a larger format and the first time I went painting alone after two plein air sessions with a friend in that same area. Sure, it's more fun when one could paint with others who could give you good feedback on the spot, but as often happens, weather or other events can wreck your plans and a good painting day is something that cannot go to waste. Painting in a larger format definitely keeps you from adding too much detail, and somehow having more room to paint gives you a sense of freedom.

This is the view looking south from the middle of a soybean field on Barker Rd. It was painted in the evening, in late August, with minimal work done in the studio. I had a good time because a woman who lived across from where I was came over and spend time talking with me.

The Field, 9" x 12"

Last weekend I participated in a plein air event sponsored by the Everson Museum, at the Stone Quarry Hill Park. This park is located in Cazenovia, 20 miles east from Syracuse, and it's an sculpture park with lots of acres where nature and art mix.

Only five artists showed up for the event, probably because rain was predicted in the forecast, but that was reason enough to get to work right away. I was able to produce two paintings, this one here and a panoramic view. But as it often happens when you work outdoors, the light changed so fast that it threw me off with the panoramic view. I might be able to fix it, but it'll have to be from memory.

The more I paint outdoors the more I realize the drawbacks of painting from photographs. This doesn't mean that I'll give up working from photos, but simply that I'm becoming more and more aware of their limitations.

230 at Salt Springs Rd, 12" x9"- on location

Last Monday I went painting with two experienced plein air artists at the home of one of them. It was a beautiful evening, and the neighborhood offered several possibilities. I was very tempted to do a street scene, but because I had recently painted one with not so good results, I decided to paint something close up this time. Since I had made up my mind that I wanted to paint under the shade of a tree, the house next door to my friend's was the best choice.

It was very interesting to see how the light changed in a period of an hour: walls that were bright with reflected light became dark an hour later. For that same reason, it was also a little bit exasperating having to change colors.

After we stopped working we proceeded to critique each other's work. Mine was basically done so their feedback was very important to me. They were very free with their suggestions and I felt I gained so much from them.

I'll let this painting sit for a while before finishing it.
This coming Monday we'll be painting in my garden.