Plein Air Paintings

The annual Lakeside Paintout is this weekend and it promises to be a hot one. Today was humid. Tomorrow will be worse, so I am hoping there will be a breeze down by the lake. Maybe I should paint in my bathing suit so I can jump in the lake when the beads of sweat start sliding off the end of my nose.

Peach Cottage and Cozy Corner

9" x 12"

Pastel Portrait

Here is Josh, a young twenty-something who is looking for a career in movies or television. He would be happy with some modeling work too.

As you can see, he has the looks for it, and when you dress a clean cut guy up in a suit with a bow tie the effect is timeless.  I'm out of step with the times, because my first thought when I saw Josh was: Omigosh-- a young guy with no tattoos or piercings! That is so awesome!

Anyway- here he is, a very presentable young man who might be out of fashion for our day and age, but fits my idea of a great model.

JOSH

18" x 17" pastel on Canson paper

Painting from a Rooftop

I'm back from a two week trip to Paris with a side trip to Macon, and feeling quite inspired. After my visit, I was convinced there are no finer museums anywhere than the ones in Paris. The Louvre was almost too beautiful to believe, and the Musee d'Orsay, while not nearly as large, held many paintings I had only ever dreamed of seeing.

This is one of my favorites, by Eugene Burnand. It depicts the disciples, John and Peter, running. It breaks some basic rules of composition, but is successful in spite of it. I'm floored by the sheer emotion I see in their faces, and the roiling skies behind them.

My painting partner decided she needed to cross an item off her bucket list so we ascended to the top of the Galleries Lafayette, a ritzy department store in the midst of downtown Paris, and set up our painting equipment. The day was perfect; there was no wind, which might have been disastrous atop a seven story building, and it was morning so there were no crowds.

She faced the Eiffel Tower and I looked toward The Opera. It was an unforgettable experience. Of course there were the inevitable American tourists who came by and chatted, but fo rthe most part, people left us alone.

9" x 12" oil on linen

Atop the Galleries Lafayette

SOLD

Old Dairy Barn in Whitehouse

I painted this barn in Whitehouse last Friday during the annual paint out sponsored by the Waterville Arts Commission. It is a 100 plus year old dairy barn owned by the Metro Parks, located north of the town off Shadel Road. It's located in an area known as the Blue Creek Conservation Area. There is a wildlife refuge next door, Nature's Nursery, where they accept and care for injured wildlife. The refuge saves more than 3,000 animals a year. What a great non-profit, and right in our own back yard. Here is a link to their website: http://www.natures-nursery.org/

As a plein air painter, you're always conscious of the weather, so I checked the forecast the night before. There was a 20% chance of thundershowers in the afternoon hours. We started painting around 10:45 AM. Generally, it takes 2-2-1/2 hours to complete a plein air painting. The lighting conditions will change dramatically if you try to paint any longer, especially in the sun. The one exception to this rule is on a cloudy day. You could almost paint all day when the light is consistent.

So we found ourselves still painting at 1:15 PM when the clouds rolled in. I'm not sure I would have added anything else to this painting, but I didn't have time to consider it. I packed my gear as quickly as possible, ran to the car with the painting and just barely made it inside before the clouds opened and a torrent of rain descended. We were lucky, but I know from experience I'll always remember this day.

Sunny days are enjoyable and the paintings are bright, with distinct patterns of light and shadow, but it's the sheer excitement of battling weather and bugs that creates a memorable day for me. The paintings I remember most are the ones I finished through sheer determination. How could I ever forget the young billy goat who tried to climb on top of my paint box, WHILE I painted. I cleaned cadmium yellow from his lips and hooves with baby wipes, praying he wouldn't be poisoned. At least once a year, a painting will blow off the easel or I'll drop it while carrying it to the car. It's an unwritten rule that these paintings always land face down. And it's usually a pretty good painting too, until I turn it over and see all the grass and pebbles adhered to the surface.

Plain air painting is not for artists who enjoy order. If you can embrace chaos and you're not frustrated easily, you will enjoy it. However, if you're one of those people who expect everything to go according to schedule and you like to trace your scene out before you even begin to paint, you might want to try a different hobby.

A Young Fisherman

I met this boy a couple years ago when I was staying at Lakeside. I was out on the dock when he caught a fish and I asked him if I could take a picture of him with it. It's not a large fish, probably a perch, but he didn't care. He reeled in several more while I watched the sun set over the lake.