Saturday, August 31, 2013

My first Plein Air Event - The Experience & What I Learned!


The Paso Robles Art Festival and Plein Air Quick Draw 

Setting the goal.

I love painting on location and one of my goals for 2013 was to participate in my first plein air event.   Having talked to my artist friend Dan Schultz about his experiences last year I had a better idea of the different events in So Cal, and thought that maybe it was time for me to step out of my comfort zone and make that next move as an artist.   Over the years I've attended some PleinAir events, like the Laguna Invitational and PAPA's event on Catalina Island as a spectator.  And I have thoroughly enjoyed watching some very talented artists paint.   I wasn't quite sure which event I would choose (I knew it wouldn't be the Laguna event:)  and it turned out, quite by happy accident that the Paso Robles Art Festival and Quick-draw would be my first event.
  
Stilt walkers at the Festival of Arts

Recognizing the opportunity 
After setting that goal I had to figure out:  How do I make this happen?
 Well...It was through an introduction by my fellow Artist-in-residence Daggi Wallace that I met Anne Laddon, the inspiring founder of Studios on the Park in Paso Robles in February.  She was kind enough to look at my work and then suggested that I take part in their Plein Air event in May.   Little did she know that it would be my first time doing a quick-draw.   But even after she found out, she took the leap and still invited me, deciding that I would be her wild card!  What courage!   Her confidence in me has been a great gift to my growth as an artist!

Anne at work capturing the colors of the library.

Practice, Practice

At that time in February, and since I had left my daily work in Animation to pursue the dream of being a full-time fine artist I had been focusing mostly on painting small and painting daily.   With two young children, the pursuit of an art career is a true balance of family and art.  It's a crazy puzzle and working within my schedule I was painting a lot of 6x6 size paintings,
but nothing much bigger than that.
Taking part in this event I would have to paint bigger!....At least 12x12 panels!   Some artists were known to paint even bigger sizes for this event.   I also had to be prepared to finish my painting in 2 hours, with spectators and distractions...:-)   Let's just say I was inspired by the challenge.

 
Me - Painting the old Nursery for the Plein Air Masters Exhibit

In Preparation - Discovering the beauty around Paso Robles

One thing that set this event apart from others was that there was a separate Plein Air Invitational Exhibit that would take place at the same time as the Art Festival with the Quick-draw, but the paintings for this exhibit were painted ahead of time and not during the event.
"The Plein Air Masters" exhibit  -  featured paintings of 16 artists whose company I was a little overwhelmed to be a part of.  Well-known artists like Will Hosner, Debra Huse, Jason Situ, John Cosby and Libby Tolley to mention just a few. Here's the whole list.

We were asked to enter paintings of the local scenery around Paso Robles, painted en Plein air.
An added bonus to that experience was that I learned even more about what I'm drawn to as an artist.   I've painted a lot of landscapes and nature, but as color has become a greater focus for me...and perhaps being "affected by the experience of aging"..lol...I found myself seeking out subjects that spoke to a place in history, like the abandoned old nursery and classical cars and familiar long-standing eateries.  And they all had color combinations that I loved.

My three paintings in the exhibit

Another bonus:   This exhibit also meant that I had to write a new biography, which was slightly daunting since I'm fairly new in this game.  This is where great artist friends input really helped!  What it ultimately taught me was to just embrace where I am in my journey.   I can't be any further along than what I am, so celebrate that "little solo exhibit in Sweden" and the "on the job training" that painting Animation backgrounds provided.

All of this lead up to:
 The early morning activities in the park, across from Studios on The Park

Paso Robles Festival of Arts

I arrived in Paso the night before the event and got to stay in a hotel room provided by the organisers.  What an absolute treat!  I had the opportunity to see a fabulous presentation on Pleinair Painting by a very knowledgeable and entertaining Jean Stern.  He's the executive Director of the Irvine Museum and has authored the book
California Light: A Century of Landscapes: Paintings of the California Art Club 
and many other noteworthy books on California Impressionism




The Morning of

The morning of the Quick-Draw, I got up early.  I knew I would want to give myself the best opportunity to be less stressed.  I  would eat a good breakfast and scope out a painting spot so I could be ready to go at 9AM when the bell would ring.   It was a beautiful sunny and hazy day when I arrived at Studios on the Park.  There was a lot of activity and with a little help I got registered and set to paint.
Now what would I paint?  Our area t...included the park and a block around it.  I knew that Anne would have some classical cars and models for us to paint.   I walked around and took a bunch of pictures to figure out where I wanted to set up.  Even without the added stress of a quick-draw it's sometimes difficult to pick something....when you paint outdoors.  I spent a little time wishing that the cars were in a different area with the morning haze behind them...but I had to give up that thought and move on.   I ran into a few of the painters.  All in all we were 25 artists participating in the quick-draw.   The best advice I got was from Thomas Van Stein.   I asked him if he had any tips for someone who was doing this for the first time and he responded simply:  Be brave!


The Actual Quick-draw

Be brave!  That turned out to be really great advice!   When I paint I've found that I like subjects (or scenes) that feature a high horizon line.  I also love the bright colors of classical cars and back-lighting.  If you look at the picture above you might see that I found a spot that had all of those elements and 2 classical cars, which is where the brave part came into play.

I was excited and nervous getting started and with the time crunch I did find myself just taking off running.   It sort of felt like any orderly process was out the window and I was just working on getting the drawing on there immediately, so I could start covering the canvas.   I didn't really take time to stop and ponder things...:-)   What did add to the stress was the fact that cars would come and park in front of my chevy and I had to politely ask them if they cold move...
which didn't always happen - but then I would just focus on other areas of the painting.   Scott Prior (who was painting the truck from across the street)  had the same problem as me and we finally got a cone put in the parking spot between the cars.
   The people who stopped by were encouraging and had questions that I was able to answer as I painted.  I also had business cards available for them to pick up.
A lot of questions were about the paint-saver palette I use.
You can see it attached to my OpenBoxM above and it is made by Camille Przewodek's husband Dale Axelrod.
It was encouraging to have some painter friends stop by during the process and Jean Stern saw my work half-way through as well.

The most stressful part of the day came after I was all done.

 

Framing for the auction

We had half an-hour when we finished, between 11AM to 11:30AM to get our paintings framed and on display by the arbor in the middle of the park.  The way I paint with color I tend to frame those pieces a little more contemporary with floating frames.   It's a little more complex a process than using a regular frame where you just pop the painting in from the back.   I thought I was really smart to have brought a glue-gun to avoid having to wait for the material I usually use to dry?   But it turned out that with the day being so hot, the glue was drying too fast and it made it difficult to make my canvas adhere....so back and forth I ran to get my painting attached with my usual silicone material.
I didn't have a separate easel to set my painting on, and I was too late to be able to use one of the ones provided by the event so I ended up using my Painting easel to set it up...and heeuuh...the auction was about to start.
But before that, Jean Stern would give out some awards.

I felt so fortunate to be able to hang out with my artists friend Debbie Martin and her husband during the wait...I was really nervous, and she came back and hinted that I should go and see my painting....

It turned out that my painting received one of the awards of excellence from Jean Stern.
What a surprise! It was a wonderful end to a great first quick-draw experience.


So my tips for a successful plein air event....or
what I learned from my experience is to:

Practice
Be rested
Don't look for the perfect spot, but do find what speaks to you!
Be brave
Enjoy the chaos.. and go with the flow
Have simple framing options and an easel ready to display.
Have fun and share your joy for painting with those who stop by

And I'll echo what Jean Stern told me.
He stopped by in the middle of my painting process, and I said:
"Eeuuh, you're seeing it in the ugly stage"   
To which he responded (and I paraphrase) :
 Most paintings are in the ugly stage until about 10 minutes before you finish...you'll be fine! 

So encouraging and wise.








Monday, August 26, 2013

Late Night by Flashlight

6x6
Oil on Gessoboard

This is the first of two paintings that I did the other day when I was working on the 37 minute exercise  (something I learned about from Robert Genn in his recent newsletter).   You can see my second one in an earlier post.   This one is fairly loose and I enjoyed the process of painting this particular lighting.  I've found myself really wanting to tackle and decipher what makes a light area really come alive - is it how light it is or how you paint what's around it?    
How do you tackle sunlight hitting water to create that sparkle?  Share your tips on painting light below!

Happy Painting!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

"Cruise Night"

12x12
oil on linen on panel
I attended my 3rd Cruise night in Camarillo last night.  It takes place right by the studios where I'm an artist in residence, which is convenient.  And it gives me a great opportunity to practice en plein air and see some beautiful classic cars.  Cars like these are so inspiring to me with their great design, personality and color.  It's also a great architectural challenge!   What I mean by that is that cars have the architecture and angles of a house (or a rectangle:) and then just add a few extra angles!   Last night I added to the challenge by including a few cars and the quickly setting sun.   I need to start snapping some shots of what my painting looks like half-way through...because for quite a while I'm not sure whether it's going to come together or not, it's a bit of a mess.  I've really been enjoying painting at these events and being able to talk to the car enthusiasts that stop by to see what I'm doing.  The last event for the summer will take place on the 4th Friday in September - and I'll be there!

On another note
The second 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge is coming up in September.
Visit Leslie Saeta's blog to find out how to join.

As a heads up - I will be holding a raffle to win one of the paintings I produce that month, for all those who Like my FB page and then sign up to follow my blog (or already do follow my blog)!  That way I will have your email address to notify you if you win.

The winner gets their choice of any one painting that haven't sold by the end of September!

Good luck all, and for all of my artists friends - join in the challenge!  It's fun and very motivating.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Not Tired Yet

Not Tired Yet
6x6
Oil on Gessoboard

Snapped a few pictures of my son the other night as he was drawing by flash light not yet ready to fall asleep.   I can see that art is definitely meditative for him, the way it is for me.   Did 2 sketches from those photos today, the first one in 37 minutes (an exercise I learned about in Robert Genn's recent newsletter) and this was the second one.  An interesting challenges as I continue to pursue my goal of simplifying and abstracting....it's a process.