Warning: Long post alert, but it comes with LOTS of pictures! I participated in a plein air event (painting in the great outdoors) last week and share my experience here with you!
Day 1 – Tuesday
Day one complete! I painted for about two hours after work. I was getting frustrated, so I was going to switch canvases and start another. By that time, though, the chance of rain was growing and it was getting dark. I plan on creating a “night scene” with a live band on Wednesday night. I am hoping it will work out, and if not, I have a Presbyterian church for backup. I found a really cute area that will be perfect for my long painting, but I am also going to try walking around my mapped area a little bit in the later hours of the morning. I decided for this first painting to work with palette knives. There was a Railroad Museum within walking distance of my parked car and I had a particular angle that I wanted to try. I first set the colors that I was going to work with primarily and just squeezed paint onto my canvas. I somehow missed taking a picture of my first layer, but the result was very similar to my Busy Café painting (available to order in my HM. Artwork section!). My colors started running together because the paint was still wet, so I decided to pack it up and add another layer tomorrow. Two things I will change: 1) Get my large tubes of paint and 2) use my paint palette. I did love the ease of just wiping my knife on my apron and putting everything else up!
Thoughts for Day 1
Can I just say that I started this venture a little intimidated. I knew coming into this that it’s not going to be something I’m going to aim to win. I’m not even trying to place. I’m just doing this for fun because I’ve never done it before, it’s art, and I can meet other artists in my community. But when I arrived yesterday, three hours later than other artists, they were just finishing up the quick draw that I missed because I have another job. I am not retired or a full-time artist. But I did get to meet some of the artists who won and chat about what kind of experience each person had in previous competitions. When I was buying my supplies, I did research on the types of canvases I could use and one option was to get gallery-wrapped canvases and not use a frame. I love the large canvases so I went with the three biggest I could fit in a 3×7 foot space. Well, when I arrived at the gallery this morning, there was ABSOLUTELY NOBODY with canvases bigger than a canvas board, which is a light, thin canvas that you have to frame. My thought was this: I don’t really use frames in my house, so if I end up keeping it, it will probably need to be canvas, where I just paint the edge and hang it on the wall. I must say, after signing everything in and getting the blank canvases stamped, I hung up my from-home picture, “Texas Sunset” and snapped a photo. I can’t wait to see my official bio added to the bottom, which they had not printed off yet. Tomorrow I will work on my long, skinny painting and maybe my night scene. Then I will come back to the train when the light is better and I can imagine more of what I want to include in the painting. I’m considering calling it “History” and adding extra train cars to the end to give the illusion that the train continues into the void. I think I might eliminate the fence except part of the picture to show that it has both modern and historical elements.
Day 2 – Wednesday
I have the idea to work on my “live” painting tonight in pen, then go back later and add watercolor. I think that would more accurately and quickly capture the figures, but it would also give me the freedom of drawing in pen, which is what I’m accustomed to. I think that might take more prep work for the canvas, but I’m going to see if I can hit an art store early today and ask before applying the “grounds,” Which makes my read-for-acrylic-or-oils canvas absorbent for watercolor. I think with just drawing today and adding the colors tomorrow night, it should be sufficiently dry to work. Completely new processes, but I have the need for speed and the freedom that I am just here to have fun and to paint three paintings in two days (plus a couple hours). My normal method of painting is one layer, wait a few weeks and practice techniques, then come back and work again. I daily sketch, but this is usually with pen or pencil and painting canvases usually occurs in spurts. I’m excited to try this technique!
When I turned in my first painting, which took around six hours, I mentioned that I still needed to finish one and then I was going to start on the third one tonight, as there was a live band at a local German restaurant. She told me, “Your three best!” reminding me I could paint more than three. I can tell you, I will not be painting more than three!
My routine today:
- Leave my house at 7:00 and try some coffee at the coffeeshop I’m painting
- Paint the bakery window, naming my canvas, “Just a Taste”
- Hang my first painting in a gallery and look for lunch at 3:00PM
- The first place is closed until dinner and I’m too late for lunch at the second. I have an apple pie. I’ll try for earlier tomorrow
- Drive to a park about a mile away, walking around, hiking, and sketching
- Returned to a restaurant to set up for the live band, raising money to tour in Germany next year. I feel like my art at the end of two hours is too sketchy. There were a couple critiques from patrons because I have pencil everywhere. I test my pen after several of the figures and I will be able to erase the pencil
- I’m partially done with the sketching part and I’m tired; I’ve been at this for almost 12 hours
- Home for rest and start again tomorrow
Day 3 – Thursday
Day three officially and I’ve already changed my plan: Everything I read tells me that absorbent ground is needed to work watercolor onto the canvas. This means that I need to prep my canvas with absorbent ground before attempting to paint in watercolor. The acrylic and oil canvases are too slick for watercolor, and although it might still work, it would make it more difficult to layer. I am only hoping I can get away with a couple thin coats so that I don’t need to completely redo my drawing from yesterday. We’ll see how it goes. Worst case scenario, I redo a scene this evening with the live band again and use a different canvas. My plan is to erase all lines after completing pen work, getting absorbent grounds at the store, testing a section to make sure it doesn’t smear the ink. If it does, I will attempt watercolor without the grounds. That is probably the solution I’ll go with, but best case scenario: It works and I find a har salon and request to use their blowdryer for ten dollars.
At the beginning of the morning I stopped at the same coffee shop as yesterday (earlier this time!) for breakfast and a dirty chai and on the drive spotted a cute bakery nearby where I was going to set up. I was taking off my stuff and was about to walk inside for a cinnamon roll at the recommendation of the man who had just finished eating with his dog. He helped carry my coffee and gave me a cream cheese danish from his bag. Then there was a lady who said that they were excited for me to set up here and that she wanted to give me a cookie. It was a unicorn. They were so excited that “an artist is setting up outside our shop!” and encouraged me to stay. I worked outside and chatted with some of the customers. Of course, they were super surprised when they saw people and I had to keep explaining that it was from a band that had performed at a nearby biergarten the night before. Before lunch I stopped by the Railroad Museum and worked for a couple more hours on my initial painting. It was still frustrating and very abstract, but it got to a point that I was actually looking at an object. I went back to the morning coffee shop for lunch and got to chat with one of the baristas who said he and his family were from Mexico. We got to speak in Spanish about Peru, teaching, his family, and travel. I read a couple chapters and went back to painting.
The rest of the train took my a couple more hours, to the point where it was still abstract, but the elements were all there. I dropped all of my supplies at the car and grabbed my copy of the Lord of the Rings (Tolkien). I was going to wait a couple hours and return to the biergarten to begin watercolor. I talked with another artist and a guy who I invited to my writing group. After about thirty minutes, I realized that the restaurant was having live music, but it was going to be a different band, so I changed plans and headed back to the same park I sketched in yesterday. I painted for another couple of hours. It was almost done, but I’ll go back tomorrow and add shading details.
Thoughts about Day 3
I learned about these “floater frames” that I’d like to try with some of my art. Early morning inspiration to call the music painting, “Biergarten Ballads”. I’d also like to find outdoor areas and work with more plein air artwork. Plus, people had no problem coming up to me and chatting. Since it’s not for a contest, I will probably need to ask permission more, but everyone that I met this week has all been super friendly and enjoy looking, even if they don’t know much about art. One of the things I’ve noticed, besides just being fun, is that painting around town makes me observe details, be patient with myself and just enjoy the process. It also gets me to start talking about art, ask people about their lives, and hear personal stories. I’m going to look into ways of maybe continuing to do things like this, especially if I can find some weekend things.
Day 4 – Friday
I turned in my last painting today and even though it was a little cartoonish, I liked the result. It was sketchy in some places and detailed in the shaded areas. Possibly because of the heat of the car yesterday, I could no longer erase the pencil marks that had previously been removable, so I had to work around them, enhancing some color and adding fanciful swirls. I personally think it embellishes the musicality of the piece anyway, but it also leans more into an illustration rather than a painting. I tried to remember to leave white spaces, but it was weird to keep certain areas blank. I’m a little nervous because all three paintings had different techniques and when doing something like this, I’m not sure it’s a good thing. Then I walked around for a while, posted my final products on Instagram (later on this website) and then am reading at a coffee shop. Tonight is the reception at the art gallery and I am eager to see all of the art in one place!
Thoughts on Day 4
A couple things I learned this week: 1) This contest is more focused on buildings and landscapes and 2) though the plein air style was “invented” by the impressionists, the impressionistic style is not rewarded. 3) Fewer people is better and details are praised.
Though this doesn’t change how proud I am of my art, I know that I will need to focus on other things in order to win a contest like this. However, I tried some different techniques and learned what I want to do more of (oil) and what I want to try until I improve (palette knives).
Go create!
Hannah Marie.
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