And It Poured!

Welcome to En Plein Air!
#GOTCHA #RAINONU #NATURESURPRISE #RUNSARARUN #WEATHERTRIFECTA

4 Canoes On A Cloudy Day, 8x10

I check the weather religiously, and today the weather was sunny with cloud mix and afternoon storms. Looked like a good morning to paint so I checked the radar and I headed out.

Once I arrived the weather was grey and overcast, but not stormy, no rain. The heavy clouds made the trees and lake very dark in color (ohh I liked this, very different from last week's full sun). Thirty minutes later I was sweating and spraying on Sunscreen - the sun is so hot! The bright sun washed out the colors which was less exciting. Lastly, it got cloudy again (15 minutes before I was going to pack up) but it didn't look like rain. SPLAT! SPlat Kersplat! The downpour came fast and soaked me and my art! Surprise-ACk!

I am a prepared girl, but my garbage bag was under my backpack (to prevent dirt from getting into my things) instead of covering my backpack...My Camera bag was out, my paints (on paper palette) and brushes got soaked, my painting got wet, my easel filled with water. I had an umbrella in my bag,but by the time I got to it I was soaked and my stuff was soaked.

My clothes were soaked, my backpack was drenched. It took me wayyy to long to pack up - you cannot hold an umbrella and unscrew the legs of a french easel at the same time! The wet pack up was THE worst! Everything was soaked! Once home I had to toss my clothes in the laundry and then unpack and dry all my art stuff. I left my painting and paints palette on the counter to dry (both had beads of water on top). I emptied my wet backpack, hanging it to dry in laundry room. I wiped my wet sad easel down with paper towels. Oh wet mess!

This was only my third independent (on my own) plein air session. In the last few weeks I have come to better appreciate the plein air experience - for me it was about finding the right painting location. I have finally found a place that is full of paint inspiration.

Ultimately everything's fine, I just had to stop painting before I was ready. I'm now inducted into plein air painting!  

I bet every artist has a plein air story....

Back in the Groove

Gotta Gotta Get back in My Art Groove

Just a small part of my inspiration photo!

Sometimes you just need someone to talk to about inspiration and motivation. Sometimes you just have to get out of the house!

I went to see a mentor friend and asked her about art motivation, I was in a slump! She was great and we sat down for ten minutes to just talk about it. It was so great to hear that I am not alone, lack of motivation happens to all of us!

Toward the end of my "Blah, not inspired", I found something that sparked my interest. At the studio one day I fell in love with a set up - a model with an old washing machine. My thoughts immediately went to - "Hmm I need a bigger canvas." I took photos from every angle because while I liked my angle I knew there could be other better or more interesting angles to paint later. Also, I wanted to see how the light hit.

I was able to talk to my mentor about my inspiration piece and showed her my photographs, and it really helped. I was able to get advice and formulate a plan, starting with ordering a larger canvas (I like 12x 16 and decided to move up to 16 x 20). My next steps include: thumbnail sketches, color studies, and even an underpainting (burnt sienna). Much to do! Additionally and very importantly, I took my top three photo selections and we reviewed them, selecting one and deciding on a vertical canvas. Now I am better equipped to get started on my inspiration piece!