Plein Air in the Painting Workshop

After Krista and I spent an afternoon painting at the lake (Lake Kaweah), we spent a fair amount of time discussing plein air painting. She sent me a couple of short instructional videos, and I ended up as confused as always, still wondering if I would ever be able to produce decent paintings outside of the studio. I also wondered if any of the paintings I produce in the studio (painting workshop —just a big multi-purpose room) are any good, after I watched those videos. Sigh.

So, I set up the lake painting on an easel in the painting workshop, with the plan to follow the recommendation of one of those instructional videos. The painter said to divide a painting into foreground, middle ground, and background. Pick one (preferably the mid-ground) for your detail. The other sections need to stay less defined.

The way it ended after the plein air session.

This was a bit of a struggle for me because all the parts of this painting seem equally important to me. Finally I decided that the painting would be focused on the river.

I started painting my usual way—from furthest to closest—meaning sky first, then distant mountains, moving forward.

It was too hard to put those rocks in the river with the shadows and reflections, painting wet-into-wet. So, now Alta Peak, Moro Rock, and all the hills and distant trees, along with the lower right corner are blurry.

This needs to be revisited by some better brushes, colors, and attitude. (I’m tryna learn to paint this way, but just not feelin’ it!)

Meanwhile, Krista finished her piece in her studio. After she sent this to me, we talked on the phone and I made a few suggestions, which she implemented. Fall down laughing, as if I know how to improve on other people’s plein air paintings!

Plein Air at the Lake

Krista was willing and able to meet me at the lake (Lake Kaweah in Three Rivers) to plein air paint, the very next day after Trail Guy and I walked on the lake bottom.

Gear management is one of the most difficult aspects of plein air painting. What do you actually need? Paint, brushes, oil, paper towels, a palette, a way to prop up your canvas (currently I use a pochade box made from a cigar box and a tripod), a stool to sit on or to rest your stuff, and a way to transport it all.

None of my stuff is ideal, because the best set-ups cost up to $1000. Not worth it for someone who doesn’t really enjoy this method of painting and doesn’t paint well enough this way to recoup the costs.

The little red wagon was helpful, but it was downhill to our location so it kept rolling into the back of my legs. Oh well, sometimes there are little annoyances in life that have to be overlooked. We parked the wagon off the road in the mud, did a sketch, then walked farther to do another sketch, knowing no one would bother our painting gear.

The first sketch was the best, so we returned to the wagon and set up.

The light was changing, as it does. But I’m learning to just flow with it, knowing that my painting won’t look good until I finish it in the painting workshop at home.

It was helpful to paint with Krista, to discuss colors and values and to encourage one another.

The time went quickly, and when the shade came over us, it got COLD.

Good enough. Needs work. Duh. Brrrr. One last photo, then I’m outta here.

Krista and I discussed finishing the paintings at home; she wondered how many people do it that way. It seemed that while I was in Monterey, most people finished the paintings on location. But in Plein Air magazine, 80-90% of the paintings shown say “plein air/studio”, indicating that the painters were not able to turn out work in one outdoor session.

Back in the parking lot (it was much easier to pull the little red wagon uphill than have it bashing into my legs going downhill), we ran into my very good friends (another great thing about Three Rivers). They came to walk the dog and fly a kite.

Now I have the song “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from Mary Poppins looping endlessly in my head.

Conclusion: A good time of painting with Krista, another humbling admission that plein air painting doesn’t seem to work for me, but also that I will continue to try. Like taking vitamins, you can’t tell if it is really doing anything, but you continue, just in case.

A Walk on the Lake Bottom

Trail Guy and I went to Lake Kaweah— “The Lake” —for a walk. It was a crystal clear day.

All I know is Moro Rock and Alta Peak, not the snow-covered mountains on the left.
The river was reflecting the sky, and Castle Rocks are peeking behind on the distant right side.
The last time we walked at the lake, the road was entirely buried in sand, several feet thick. It has taken awhile, but finally the road has been cleared, but not all the way.
Mustard is the earliest wildflower in the foothills.
Cockleburs are horrible. I think they are native to this area. They don’t mind getting drowned each year—it seems to be what causes them to thrive.
This is looking downstream toward the dam. The lake is very low, to make room for the winter rains and spring snowmelt, always a situation we hope takes place.
This isn’t a very pretty walk, but the blue of the river takes the edge off of all that grayish brown.
This is where we turned around. After studying it for awhile, we concluded that the lake is slowly filling up.
When heading back to the parking lot, it occurred to me that this could be a nice place to do a little plein air painting.

Stay tuned! I might do some painting here soon with my friend Krista who needs to do a few examples of plein air painting in order to qualify for a job. Like me she is a studio painter, but unlike me, she wants to expand into plein air. I have more experience at it than she does, so I can help her, we can hang out together, and maybe one day, I will actually improve my plein air skills in spite of my less than stellar attitude about it.

Before and After, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE HERE.

In case these before and after posts are putting you to sleep, let’s skip the chit-chat and go right to the paintings.

Garapatta BEFORE
Garapatta, AFTER
Point Lobos, BEFORE
Point Lobos, AFTER
Carmel Mission, BEFORE
Carmel Mission, AFTER
Rocky Point, BEFORE (those aren’t birds – it is squished bug)
Rocky Point, AFTER
Pinos Point Lighthouse, BEFORE
Pinos Point Lighthouse, AFTER. This is my favorite, and I’m not alone in my assessment because it sold.

SIMPLY HOME

Sawtooth From Sunnypoint IX, 12×24″, $650

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

Before and After, #3

Plein air painting #3 was the only one I did that day because I spent the morning trying to solve my easel problem. A new friend at the painting retreat lent me a pochade box, which needed a tripod to hold it up if I didn’t want to paint sitting with it on my lap. I drove to another town and spent time trying to find a tripod to support the wooden box. After several attempts to find a tripod to hold the box (WHY WAS I AT A MALL SHOPPING AT BIG BOX STORES WHEN THE BEACH WAS CALLING??), I decided it was a waste of time. So I drove back to Asilomar, found a turnout, did an impressive job of parallel parking, set up my stuff at this view, and started painting.

I decided that I’d had enough frustration for one day, so I climbed down to the beach, and took a few more photos. If this painting makes your eyes bleed, please forgive me.

Phew. Much better!

Looks as if I forgot to sign it.

SIMPLY HOME

Farewell at Dusk, 10×30″, $600

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE HERE.

Before and After, #2

This is the second plein air painting I did in Monterey. I set up in the shade by the path to Asilomar Beach (another struggle against that easel), and this time I was determined to do a better painting.

This painting gave me hope that I might be able to paint plein air. It also gave me time to decide to look for a trash can large enough to stuff the easel into.

After I got home, I retouched it and finished it to this level.

This one deserved to be signed.

SIMPLY HOME

Heading to Eagle Lake, 16×20″, $650

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE HERE.

Before and After, #1

This is the first plein air painting I did in Monterey. We set up on Asilomar Beach, and I tried to concentrate on painting when I just wanted to put my feet in the water and enjoy the waves. Instead, I tried to paint while the waves kept moving and my easel kept fighting against me.

Then it was just too hot and frustrating to keep standing there, so I packed it up and took this back to my room.

After I got home, I retouched it and finished it to this level.

That’s odd—I still haven’t signed it. I wonder if I can make it better. . . maybe in another year or two. I’ll sign it next time I am painting.

SIMPLY HOME

Honeymoon Cabin, 18×36″, $1500

2025 CALENDARS AVAILABLE HERE.

2025 SIMPLY HOME Calendar, showing many of the paintings from my show of the same name. $25, and I will pay the sales tax (if you live in California) and mailing (if you order).

A Day in Exeter

This is the view looking east from in front of the Mural Gallery & Gift Shop. See the awning straight ahead? That is on the third location where I had my studio in Exeter.

While at the Mural Gallery for my November shift, I painted. My goal was to be productive in between customers by completing some of the plein air paintings from the week in Monterey.

Worked out pretty well.

I liked these enough to sign them. When they are dry, I will show the before and after versions.
This one is better, but I can’t wait to put a railing on the bridge and bark on the sycamore trees.

As I was moving everything out to my car, I looked east and remembered many reason I always loved being in Exeter: tractors in downtown, the water tower with EXETER on it, seeing Sawtooth and Homer’s Nose, trees with fall color, the Post Office, all visible from where I used to have my studio.

One of the three places my studio was in Exeter was in the second story of this brick building, which houses the terrific store Rosemary & Thyme.

One last view in case you didn’t get enough photos today.

SIMPLY HOME

OAK GROVE BRIDGE #28, 24×30″, oil on wrapped canvas, $1800

The show hangs until December 29 at CACHE in Exeter. Their hours are Friday 1:30-4, Saturday 10-4, Sunday noon-4. It includes about 50 paintings, 3 original pencil drawings, calendars, cards, coloring books, The Cabins of Wilsonia books, and a few pencil reproduction prints.

Plein Air Painting in Three Rivers

Krista asked me to paint again with her at the airport bridge in Three Rivers on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Before I went, I hung out with Jackson a little bit.

He wasn’t very hungry because he let the gopher live. Didn’t even pounce.

I drove to the same place with its multiple No Parking signs.

This time, I had a tripod that the little cigar box pochade attached to. Gear management is one of the great challenges of plein air painting. I won’t be buying a $700-1000 easel set-up for plein air painting unless something really changes in my abilities and interests. But I will continue to experiment and try various arrangements.

My roommate in Monterey won this brush clip in a raffle and passed it to me. It’s pretty useful, but I only use one or two brushes when I paint plein air and don’t plan on needing more. I don’t like to own stuff that I don’t need, so I passed it to Krista, who is very determined to learn this method of painting.

With a tripod, I was able to stand to paint and use my stool as a shelf. The big wooden box was passed to me by a friend who changed his mind about wanting to paint, and it is a handy way to carry my stuff. It weighs more than I’d like, and it seems as if it opens backwards, so it may go the way of all excess equipment—into the hands of someone else who needs it. The verdict isn’t in yet.

This isn’t too bad, and maybe I will like it after fixing and finishing it in the painting workshop at home.

When the sun was off the scene, we started packing, and I turned around and saw this.

It’s all about the light. Always.

One thing that is happening to my abilities as a result of plein air painting is that I am noticing new scenes to paint, looking at sunlight instead of just the subject matter. Maybe this alone is worth the time, effort, and money spent on this adventure.

Simply Home

Bike Tree, 24×24″, $1400

Plein Air Painting in Three Rivers

For about 2 years, my friend Krista has been asking me to paint with her in Three Rivers. Last week we had an entire day without electricity, phones, internet, so it seemed like a good time to leave home and paint outside. Besides, it is always a pleasure to hang out with a friend, especially outside on a nice afternoon in our scenic foothill town.

I thought about places to paint, and it is tricky when every shoulder of the road is marked with NO PARKING signs. I decided that I didn’t care, and if anyone wanted to tow Fernando away, we would have a conversation about it, and it would turn out just fine. (Our sheriff is an artist.)

This view shows the curve on the right side of the road as it heads to the bridge.

This view shows the tall sycamore trees on the left.

I wanted both, so did a sketch to see if I could squish them both in. Good thing you know that I can draw, or you might be a little worried about the quality of this sketch.

Here is my substandard plein air equipment, perfectly functional for my limited interest in this method of putting paint on canvas.

Here we go, another sketchy messy beginning.

The light changed quickly, and then all the color was gone.

That’s fine, because I took the painting as far as I could figure out while painting on location. I just don’t understand how to smash all sorts of details together; maybe someday I will, but I can’t imagine that I would like the results. I think I will like this painting after reworking it in the painting workshop at home.

Krista and I had a great time together; it is very likely that we will do this again.

Simply Home

Silage, Silos, and the Sierra, 6×12″, $145

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.