The Pitfalls of Plein Air Painting

I was humbled and learned a lot this weekend when I traveled to a Salt Spring Island to paint with my sketching group. There was a mix up, so I ended up driving myself out to the island. I was suppose to meet some of the sketchers in a Ganges, but as it happened, there was another mix up and the group that was suppose to come to Ganges, missed the ferry, and went to Ruckles Park where others of us were sketching. This left me to my own resources in Ganges.

I thought I had spare time, so I took one small side trip to Burgoyne Park, to take some pictures. I then went to Ganges, which had a fair, and a fall festival. No parking in the village, so I had to park on the outskirts and walk into the village. The first foray into the village was a scouting trip to see if I could find a place to paint. This is when I made my first mistake. I took my painting gear on the scouting trip, thinking I would save a trip back to the car. I had my gear in a shopping cart, except for the canvas, and a platform board that attaches to my easel. These items I had in a bag that swung around and generally got in the way.

The gear slowed me down in the crowd at the fair, and getting to the information center. At the information center, I got great information about where to go to paint. The closest spot was on a dead end street on the other side of the village. It was too far to walk to, so I needed to go back to the car anyway.

The next mistake I made was to get a wonderful lunch, but it took me too long to get the check, so valuable time was wasted waiting for the bill. To use the time, I sketched during and after lunch, which helped me pass the time, but it may have given the waiter the impression that I was not in a rush. I loved doing the sketch, but should have reserved the time for the painting I wanted to do.

The third mistake I made was taking too long to scout out my painting spot. I checked out the market and walked the whole village before I decided on the spot the information center had suggested. I spent too much time scouting. I should have been very decisive and moved out quickly for the painting spot.

I drove down the dead end street the information people suggested and found a beautiful little beach at the bottom of the street. I think this spot is only used by local people (like neighbours). I got my gear down to the beach, and set up to paint. I set up about a foot from the water, thinking that should be fine, and started painting. About two or two and a half hours later, I had moved the easel out of the water three times, and my paints and brushes back twice. I almost lost one of the brushes in the water. I just caught it in time. The lesson I learned from this is set up to paint as near to the high water line as I can. If the tide is coming in, valuable time will not have to be spent moving myself up the beach.

This quiet, private beach was all mine for about the first hour. Then one of the neighbours came down from his house to the beach, and I startled him and his child. They walked by quietly, trying not to disturb me. That was very nice of them. Next, a family came down the public access, and I could see they were disconcerted when they saw me, but shuttle by, with kind comments about my painting. Then I met Alan.

Alan is the local homeless person who sleeps on the beach. He stopped and we talked for quite a while. He liked art, and had had friends who painted. I felt as if I was painting on his front lawn, and thought he had a great place to live. I had to stop the conversation though so I could finish the painting. Getting into long conversations while painting can eat up the painting time fast. Another lesson learned.

The last mistake I made was setting up a time to meet with the rest of the club for a critique. I had a deadline, and that caused me to stop painting before I felt finished. I did join them for the critique, but another hour would have made a big difference. Painting would have been more satisfying than sitting for critique and coffee with my friends. I could have brought the painting to the next meeting, and got my critique then as well as my chance to chat with my friends.

Plein air painting is interesting and fun, but it does have its unique challenges. Wind, rain, insects, heat, cold, people, and now I have discovered tides and time. Still the colors are lush, and working from life, inspiring. The mistakes of the past become the wisdom of the future.

Using Drop-in Sessions to the Best Advantage

I had an active week this week, and soon the Fall will arrive, and with it I go back to my non-summer schedule. This includes drop-in drawing starting in October, and continued sketching outdoors, and continuation of a portrait drop-in drawing session I found this summer. I will also start going to the university when the weather gets too cold to draw outside, and go to their drop-in drawing as well.

I find the drop-in sessions to be lots of fun, and in many respects more productive than workshops. I love drawing and painting people, so the drop-in sessions are perfect for me. I find there are several types of drop-in sessions, and each has its own special value and things I can learn.

The life drawing drop-in session is what I would call a traditional drop-in session. It lasts about two hours, and we have a model. We begin with 30 second poses, which force us to draw quickly and just get the gesture of the figure. Then we go to 10 minute poses, then 20 minutes, and finally in the end we get about two 30 minute poses. This kind of session I find good to focus on fundamentals, getting the basics right, and observing the model for tricky areas to draw. There is not enough time to paint, and no time really to finish the drawing during the session. Sometimes if a drawing is really good, I might go home and finish it, but I really prefer to complete the drawing with the model there for reference. These sessions are great for honing drawing skills, creating masses, placement of the figure on the page, and learning to work fast.

The second type of drop-in I had a chance to do in the beginning of the summer was a long pose drop-in. Here the model took one pose and after each break she resumed it. These poses are usually sitting or reclining, because of the time the model spends in the pose. This session lasted about 3 hours, and there was plenty of time to paint, which I did. I still did not finish the painting, but I completed enough that I just had minor touch ups (artistic touches, not drawing or model related touch ups) to do in my studio. This kind of session lets the artist reach the finishing stages of the painting, and yet the time limit is still short enough that you have to work fast, and accurately the whole time. No photos are allowed at any of the drop-in sessions, so I have to get it right while I am at the session. It forces me to work directly from the model for the whole painting.

The third type of drop-in I have participated in this summer was what is called a portrait drop-in. This lasts two hours, and the model maintains the same pose for the whole time. This is less time than the long pose, but because there is only one pose for the two hours, I found the time adequate to draw a head and shoulders portrait, but not paint or do the whole figure. Others did paint or do the whole figure or both, but I do not think any of them were able to complete their piece in the time allotted. I was lucky, I got into the zone, and finished a little early. I had to resist the temptation to fiddle with the finished drawing in order to fill up the time and I did. I just started to cleanup quietly during the last ten minutes so as not to disturb the others. In this session, when we have a professional model, the model is nude, so it is like the life drawing sessions in that sense. Alternate weeks, one of the participants models, so we get a draped model, which I would like to do more of. I find clothing difficult to do, and drawing clothing needs lots of practice too.

I am sure that there are many other types of drop-in drawing sessions that I have not had a chance to experience yet, but I found these three provided a rich mix of opportunity that exercised unique skills with each type of drop-in. This kind of practice is a must for artists interested in drawing people or portraits.

My Own Backyard

It is really quite amazing to me. I go out with my sketching club to the city all the time to seek out new and different places to paint or draw. Yesterday, as I started out for my walk around the Sooke Basin, how beautiful the place I live in really is. It was getting close to sunset, and the light was just perfect. I noted a sunk fishing boat, by some pilings probably no more than 40 feet off shore. The boat had been sunk out there for I can't remember how long. Yesterday was different. The marine works next store had move their crane barge out along side the boat. I realized that the scene was going to be gone before today was out. So, after my walk, I went inside and got my camera, and returned to the shoreline (about 40 steps from my front door) and snapped an number of photos of the barge and the sunken ship.

How many times had I said to myself, what a picturesque scene that would be to paint. I really must get out and paint it. Now, all that I have is a photo of the real thing to paint. And so it goes. The marine works is right across the parking lot from my condo. I can see the giant shed where they pull the boats out of the water to work on them. I can see the area where the boats are docked. It is a very old and run down marina. It has more charm and character than any other marina I have visited to paint and draw.

I think I finally have gotten it. Last night I finally realized that some of the best marine landscapes where right outside my door. And with the weather getting a little warmer, I am going to make a promise to myself to do some alla prima painting in the next couple of weeks and become intimate with that quaint marina right next door, before it too is swept away in the modern rush to build condos, and boardwalks along the water.

The painting I have posted with this entry is one I did of Sooke Basin. It was early in the morning in the winter, and the moon was still visible high in the sky while the sun was starting to light the sky. The lone sailboat anchored out in the basin added just the touch I wanted for the painting. An interesting story about the painting's sailboat. I met the owner's father on the beach during one of my walks. I told him how I liked looking at the sailboat. The man then told me that his son had to bring the sailboat in and couldn't moor it any more, because the sea lions were climbing in to sunbath, and they were heavy enough that they almost sunk the boat! Growing up in New York City, that was a hazard I never considered before.