Plein Air Visitors and "how to"notes and more

You may have noticed that I still have not posted about our marathon plein air week. I will get there. In the meantime here is where we were painting.

This is about 4 miles from Aguirre Spring Park. It is close to the foot of the mountains. So pretty.



We had many visitors including this lovely tarantula. They look so scary. :) He was so fast I almost missed the photos. Put my finger down so you can see how big he was, about 4 inches in diameter, toe to toe.



This squirrel just sat and watched us paint and stayed there for a long time.

We saw many birds including a big hawk, but I didn't get a photo. We saw rabbits and roadrunners, too. The post below, October 20, has two of the paintings I did on the marathon.

Plein air painting is a wonderful way to improve your painting skills. You have to work quickly to capture the light. I recommend it if you can. Even to sit on your porch and paint the yard. Give it a try. Medium is not important, although oil paints have been favored over the years. I have tried pastels, acrylics and oils. I don't paint with oils as I am allergic to them. I paint with the water based oils but still smell them and get headaches.

Prepare your surface ahead of time. For pastels, I tape my paper to a folder made of foam core. You can have two papers in one folder and put some glassine between or just one paper and then just close the folder, clip or tape and it is protected for your return. Travel light, with a minimum of equipment. Hat, sunscreen, bugspray, water, etc. To try it just find a spot, a comfortable one. Take a few minutes to look it over and use a viewfinder to frame in the area or your fingers in a square. It is overwhelming to try to paint the whole outside world. Focus on one area you like.

Then make a couple of value sketches, just small ones to find the best arrangement for your lights and darks. Just 3 values.

Then lightly sketch in your scene with pastels or do an under painting with complimentary colors or any dark colors for the different areas of values. Think big shapes. With oils you can sketch with charcoal or do a thin wash for the shapes, acrylics, too.

Paint in your shapes, working dark to light. Plan on working no more than two hours. Keep it simple and enjoy your time out in the fresh air and see how much you learn.

A couple of plein air painters that are generous with their tips and knowledge are Ed Terpening and Michael Chesley Johnson. Michael is at the Plein Air Festival in Sedona this week. I wish I could be there to see all the great paintings. You can follow along with Michael.