Plein Air at Home

We interrupt this travelogue to bring you more examples of practicing and putting to use the skills I learned in Georgia.

Certainly not finished by my standards.

The Kaweah Post Office was awful. I spent more time on it in the painting studio.

Better. The colors didn’t photograph very true. And would you believe I lost 2 palette knives while I worked on this by the side of the road? How annoying.

The next time, I set up inside the painting workshop with the giant doors open up to the outside. This one turned out a bit better than the P.O.

This is my view out the big doors.
It started out in the usual scary manner.
Color helps.
Am I finished? Who can say except Laurel, and she isn’t here. Looks kind of messy to me.

Finally, in preparation for an upcoming exhibit called “Seascapes”, I went through my photos of beach scenes and chose one to try in the plein air method. This means painting quickly, front to back, dark to light, and finishing in one session. Have you ever heard of someone doing plein air painting from a photo? I haven’t.

The blocking in stage.
Beginning with color in the front. I love blues and blue-greens.
I liked working on this one.
I incorporated my own techniques for getting things more accurate. I wonder if Laurel would be banging her head against the wall at my rebellious ways.

This one was completed while listening to Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty get interviewed by Donald Miller. He talked a lot about having fun, and I had fun while painting this. Will I have the courage to enter this in “Seascapes”? More will be revealed.

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8 Comments

  1. I agree with you on the post office. I really like the seascape.

    • Thank you, Nancy! I was feeling sort of alone with my unsophisticated country girl opinions.

  2. I like the less detailed paintings, kinda like watercolor. I could do with accepting less details once in awhile.

    • Gina, I have not reached that level of acceptance yet but to maybe one day I will grow up and stop needing things to look perfect.

  3. Absolutely! That’s the kind of “pleine air” painting I find appealing. It doesn’t matter where you get the inspiration, photo or real thing; it has that quality of the painter’s own style and feelings for the subject that preclude the need for several sessions to make it more accurate in details .

    • Louise, I don’t know if I will ever outgrow the need to see details.

  4. Jana,

    I love what you are doing in the plein aire space! Pun not intended, but hey! The painting of the view out the big doors looks great!

    Dan

    • Dan, you are much kinder to me about these paintings than I am to myself. Thank you!

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