Don't have everything you need to paint? - don't worry

Here is a sketch I completed today at a local stream.  I've also included a page from my sketchbook to further illustrate some ideas I'll pursue later in the studio.

This sketch represents the bones of what I'll work from later in the studio.  A number of things added some challenges (some avoidable, some not) to this day of sketching.  

My brush carrier had opened and most of my brushes had spilled out in the car.  Rather than go back I decided to forge ahead.  Another "mistake" I'd made was setting up directly in the sun - but this was the view I wanted to capture.  The paints dried very quickly in the pallette as well as on the paper.  Oh yes - I also did not bring my easal or paper towels.  So basically I brought myself and a partially stocked paint box :)  I hadn't restocked since my last outing.

Many year ago, any one of the above factors would have caused me to get frustrated and potentially not to have done any painting at all.  I've now painted enough that the act of painting this on location has developed, for me, a visual memory of the scene/location that will assit in final painting.

I remember a quote attributed to Picasso.  Someone had asked him what he would do if he were to run out of red paint (he was in the midst of a painting with a great deal of red I suppose.)  His answer -  "Then I'd use black"  In other words - he's express his idea with whatever material was at his disposal.  One of the things I strive for is to not let the medium get in the way of what I'm trying to express or capture if you will.

As soon as I completed the sketch I put down the watercolor block and my paints to dry before packing up. (This wouldn't take long in the sun).    I took the time to grab my sketch book, turn around and sketch a  couple of different views of the waterfall.  I will continue to develop these ideas into a finished painting or drawing at a later time.

The above picture is sketchbook page which illustrates the method I'e been using lately.  The middle of the page is blocked off for a standard size 8 X 10 drawing.  I then section off the border, which if I do decide to complete and frame the center image - the border skeches and notes would be covered by the mat.  The boarder sketches and notes are ideas for other paintings or notes on the location at the time of the painting. The sketches are tiny, but help me save time to work out design elements before starrting a finished piece.

These sketches are enlarged roughly 50%

Art Show lessons learned #1

Welcome.  I hope, through sharing my writings and paintings, that I can share even a small fraction of the passion and enjoyment that observing and painting the landscape bring to me.  If you have comments, critiques, suggestions or ideas of places to explore and paint please let me know.

I still have so much to learn and if my lessons learned so far (likely as often what to avoid rather than what to do) can help anyone else along the path - so much the better.  I've also met so many wonderful people along this journey, both famous and not, all connected by the love of art.

Here is one of three of my charcoal drawings that was accepted for a juried exhibition "Black and White" at the River Arts Gallery in Damriscotta Maine.  But this isn't the art show or the drawing that I'll be discussing in this post.



Sharing involves risk.

The first time I decided to share my paintings publically in an art show was an experience I'll not soon forget.  I was so enthused - that no one could have talked me out of it.  No one could have convinced me that I wasn't ready for the experience.

Until the person across from me came to set up for the day.  Breathtaking portraits and landscapes seemed determined to leap off of the canvases which barely contained them.  There was a crowd around his booth all day.

My work garnered little, if any, interest.  Some casual visitors to the booth outside of family and friends.

Then it happened.  Two people came back with others in tow to share with eachother their feelings that two of my paintings had triggered in them.

One painting was a sunset / landscape completed after a camping trip to Tumbledown Mountain in Maine.  It was a small watercolor.  A gentleman came back with his wife, another artist in the show, and they both simply stared at the painting for quite awhile.  Feeling self conscious I felt the need to make conversation and clearly indicate that I fully realized just how far I had to go as an artist before I showed my work again.

They both shook their heads no.  He pointed at the painting and said "You've got it with that one.  I can feel it."  He said other complimentary things that I can't remember - as I was in shock. Someone liked my work?



The painting above was an attempt to capture the colors and mood of a sunset during a camping trip to Tumbledown Mountain.

The other painting (see below) was a monochrome acrylic based on the riverside mills of my then hometown, Westbrook, Maine.  Two sisters stood and talked with one another about how the painting reminded them of thier childhood home in Massachusetts.





The paintings could not have been any more different in medium, color, or mood.  What they did have in common was they were based on my own direct observations of nature and the feelings those experiences evoked in me.

I learned a lot as a result of that first show.

Many practical lessons about framing and showing work - all important but not really the most important lesson learned.

I was exhausted and encouraged.  By putting my work "out there"  I had managed, in a very very small way, to communicate and to connect with others through my art.

That's a journey I've been on ever since.https://www.facebook.com/mainepleinairpainter/