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Practicing Plein Air Painting in Mineral King

Remember that I went down to Georgia (no, I’m not the devil) to take a plein air painting workshop from Laurel Daniel? The goal was to be able to do plein air painting in Mineral King.

I was a little nervous, having waited 3 months to attempt the techniques again. Mineral King feels so public, probably because it is, and I was glad there weren’t many people around yet. Still, I set up my easel in an obscure place, and remained invisible in the shade despite my trusty red backpack.

See? My set up is barely visible.

The plan was to paint Empire (the rock outcropping, not the highest part of the ridge) with a few cabins below.

Too much – needs to be narrowed down.
Maybe this horizontal view?
Nah. Let’s go vertical. (“Let’s”? Got a mouse in your easel?)
I reread my notes and then just began as if I knew what I was doing.
The sketch helped me see which elements I had decided to leave in the scene.
When I started adding the color, I forgot to stop and take photos of the more intermediate steps.
No one noticed, because no one passed by. I was glad.
Starting to look like something!
This was the view from my place in the shade.

Here is the finished piece, dry and scanned after I got back home. (It was tricky business finding a place to put the painting to dry in our 400 square foot cabin, but we are always innovative with the limited space.

Empire & Cabins, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

The whole time I wondered what Laurel would say, and tried to remember some of the things she worked on with me. There is probably too much detail in this for her, but I am the boss of my painting now.

3 Comments

  1. I’m not a fan of Plein Air, but nice job, I’d say! Just a guess as to where you set up–somewhere around the Buckman cabin?

    • Sharon, just around the corner from our cabin right near the start of the Nature Trail.

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