Plein Aire Day Part 2

This post is a continuation of the post below. "Plein Aire Day"

The painting is finally completed. It is an oil on canvas, 6x12" Just a tiny one. I completed it is just a little over an hour. Could have been quicker but a lot of people kept stopping to talk to me. As you can see I am set up right at the junction in the trail. This wonderful location is barely 20 minutes from my home located in Franklin Canyon in Martinez, CA.

You can see the green grass, but it is quickly turning to gold. "California Gold" I call it.

Notice the toned canvas I paint on. My eyes just cannot take the reflection of the bright white of an un-toned canvas. Everything I need to paint with, my home-made box, my tripod it attaches to, my water, food, etc. all fit in this leather backpack you see at my feet leaning against the trail marker. I was able to hike around with everything on my back while I was looking for the perfect scene to paint. There was too many perfect scenes, I will definitely be back.

Plein Aire Day

Today I hiked in a brand new park just opened up to the public. The Fernandez Ranch. It is 702 acres that has been acquired and has just opened after the completion of the trail building, and some bridges were built so the public could travel without disturbing the natural habitat. So many scenes to paint I surely will be back.

I have to stretch the photos out over 2 posts due to the limitations on image quantity per post. I wanted to show the painting in progress. I realize when painting outdoors from nature that I have to remember to paint what I actually see and not what I know. I know this sounds silly, but when you have been painting for a long time it becomes habit to grab certain colors. I have to ask myself, "Do you really see that color?"

Do take license to edit down the scene just as a writer would a story. You don't need to include all the information to have a good story, or a good painting.

It was hot, I was hungry, and the bugs kept getting stuck in the paint. But man, what a day! It is glorious to be an artist!

Sketching

When I am out I always have my moleskine book with me and a very small travel pan of Cotman watercolors.  This is a sketch I did of Lower Yosemite Falls.  I sat on a rock at the bottom looking up and throughly enjoying the mist on a hot day.  I usually do a very quick 30 minute sketch.  It is enough information for me to bring home and do a larger painting if I want to.  I also photograph the site and may do pencil sketches as well.  I don't always have my plein aire oil paint set up with me but I try to always carry this sketch book and watercolors.  All of this information is field work that I do to bring back in to the studio.

I try to keep the sketches brief as I usually am out with my daughter or a friend and I want to keep moving so we all have a good time.  This moleskine book of mine is 3.5 x 5.5"  Very small and easy to tote around.

Mother's Day!

Diablo's Black Hills  30x40"  oil on canvas 

Today I went to visit some friends of mine in a local art show.  I have no desire to do a show on Mother's day weekend.  I prefer to be pampered.  I went to lunch with my family and walked around the show visiting all the artists I knew.  It was a sleepy little show.  Some admitted that they thought it sounded like a good show, billed as a Fine Art Show.

A good piece of advice for anyone entering a show is to go see the show first hand if you can.  I spent 2 years going from show to show before I ever started doing shows.  I looked at crowd size, parking availability, quality of art.  I also looked to see if the crowd was buying.  Were people carrying packages or brats and wine?  I looked at booth styles, what held up well in windy situations, what didn't.

Any promoter can make a show look and sound good on paper.  The actual proof is in the pudding.  If you can't go in person, send someone, or try to talk to people who have done the show.  Go to a current show and ask around, ask if someone has done a particular show and get their opinion on it. Now take into consideration what they sell and the quality of their art.  If they didn't do well, and they don't really have a good product, well that may explain their experience and you need to ask other's.  Today's "fine art show" had booths spaced very far apart in a strip mall.  I don't know if the promoter felt the walk was too narrow or maybe particular shops asked not to have booths in front of their place.  But some booths seemed very disconnected from the show.  That is also something to consider.  That may be you next year in that far off booth in Timbuktu!  So like I said, do your homework before entering a show.