Day One
Hello, it's me 8x10, first painting |
The changing light was the greatest challenge for us as it was dark grey skies & fully overcast when we started painting, then flitted into pure sunlight, then rain clouds, then on and off clouds the rest of the afternoon -- Welcome to Plein Air.
Landscape Layer Cake 5x7 |
That first morning, I felt confident getting my composition down on the canvas (I did do a preliminary thumbnail sketch first which helped). However my first painting took me much longer than I expected for an 8x10 sized painting. I struggled to get to a completion point even though I am typically a fast painter. There was an abundance of green and I struggled with the aforementioned light changes. After thinking about it, I suffered from TMI syndrome. Too Much Information (visually) and I did not keep it simple. In hindsight I feel that I should have narrowed in my focus to a smaller or less complex scene.
Since my AM painting took me well into the afternoon, I did a small second painting in the afternoon. And since I labored so hard in the morning, I wanted to keep this one simpler. A smaller canvas helped with that and my afternoon 5x7 painting was completed in a little over an hour. I was happy with it, this little gem would go in the Wet Paint Sale on Sunday.
Day 2
Ah! The light was better, it was mostly sunny and blue skies--yes! This day I had planned to paint in a house & garden in downtown Milford. I was painting alone as my art companions did not want to paint a house or flowers.
Sunlit Sanctuary, 8x10 AM painting |
I had wanted to paint the entire front of the house ---from across the street (in order to get the house onto the canvas I would have to stand that far back). However, I was not able to park across the street (no parking on that side). And, I would have had to stand practically in the front yard of the house across the street! I had made arrangements to paint the one house but did not have permission from house across street occupants to paint on their lawn. Bummer as my initial plan just went awry. So, into the garden I went in search of a subject.
Right away I was drawn to an elaborately decorated pergola structure, it was truly amazing. I loved the light bright sunlight and the dappled shadows falling on this white structure. I decided to setup there and get the light pattern down. And once again I fell into TMI Syndrome--there was so much information. There were stain glass windows, lattices, topiaries, vines, flowers, flower baskets and statues. Once again, I think I should have tried to keep it simple. I got the initial layout in just fine, but struggled to get this 8x10 completed. I am happy with the results, but I did struggle to achieve them.
Summer's Gate 8x10, my favorite |
Again, the afternoon painting session was better, despite me starting late again. I bravely pulled out another 8x10 canvas and decided to paint a simpler subject (note the lesson learned here). Personally, of the four paintings, this is my favorite. The strokes are laid in and left alone. I made decisions and stuck with them. And while the gate isn't perfect, I like that it has that painterly quality--which is what I wanted. Note that I did not even attempt to paint details in the greenery behind the gate--the gate is the focus! I have not painted many works like this--of gate and garden but I definitely want to do more. This painting being an 8x10 took me half the time of the morning painting.
In conclusion, I am happy that I participated in this paint out so close to home. The advantage of being able to go home at night was wonderful. My fellow artist painters were amazing. Go and see the show at the SHAC in Milford NOW through August 22. I personally believe that 35 of the over 100 works are gallery worthy paintings--and I am serious. There is some amazing local talent! Two of my works for sale in this show include Sunlit Sanctuary and Landscape Layer Cake--you MUST see them in person--photos just cannot tell you the whole story! My other 2 works will be for sale on my website later this week!
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