In spite of the common practice of completing a plein air painting alla prima I think that many of my paintings in that style definitely need touching up. It takes awhile for me to see what I can fix, and it takes wisdom to know if it would be an improvement. Today’s post shows the before, contrasted with the “New & Improved” versions of several of my plein air attempts. New and improved? or just new? The verdict isn’t in yet. […]
Plein Air Painting in the House
A teacher once called me a “maverick”, because I kept testing the boundaries of the assignments. Gretchen Rubin would classify me as a “Questioner”, one who wants to know why and only does things that make sense. Last week we were admiring the view out of the living room window. While standing outside, the view […]
Plein Air Style in the Studio
There is a scene I love, something I have wanted to paint for several years. It embodies the best of Tulare County to me – agriculture and the mountains. I’m not sure where the best place is to set up to paint this, I don’t remember where I was, and I don’t want to go […]
Thoughts on Plein Air Painting
A friend wanted to hear my thoughts on plein air painting, so I wrote to her about it. Several other friends said they hadn’t known what the words meant until I started my detour down that road. (Or maybe it will become my main road. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.) Plein […]
Final Plein Air Painting Day in Georgia
So many things to choose from for my final plein air painting. And that’s all, folks. Suddenly, the carriage turned into a pumpkin. I told Laurel that the entire experience was so perfect that I’d think it was just a dream if I wasn’t sweating so much in the humidity. So, back to the host […]
Afternoon Painting at an Estate
Some of this will look familiar to you, since I did a rudimentary blog post while still in Georgia. Boy oh boy am I glad to be back with my laptop! This is the continuation of the post on Monday about painting at the private estate on St. Simons Island. There were many possibilities, but […]
Success at Home
Finally, I painted something plein air at home that I like! There are so many elements to making a successful painting, and when you throw in the idea that it is a subjective type of thing, where every viewer has a different opinion, how can a painting ever be judged successful or unsuccessful? De gustibus non est disbutandem which […]
Morning at an Estate
On day two of the plein air painting workshop, we were admitted to a private estate on 1000 acres on St. Simons Island. We drove about 1-1/2 miles behind a locked gate to reach the grounds of the home. Out of respect for the homeowners, I will eliminate many specifics but will show you photos. […]
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. The Kaweah Post Office was awful. I spent more time on it in the painting studio. The next time, I set up inside the painting workshop with the giant doors open up to the […]
Travelogue, Continued
On day #2 in Georgia, we gathered at a former plantation to begin painting with Laurel. There were 7 students, from Texas, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Central California. (Yep, I think of Central California as a separate place from the rest of the state.) The Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation is a State Historic Site, where rice […]