Hi Friends,
It’s that time of year again when the grand outdoors becomes my main studio. Once warmer weather arrives, I rarely work indoors. You can find me on location in rural areas or outside my home painting from life. Getting back into the groove takes a few outings before I feel like I’m back in sync. Plein air painting definitely has its challenges, but is also immersive and joyful! So without further ado, I’m sharing a late spring outing in one of my favorite provincial parks, as well as a favorite artist that inspired my foray into painting outdoors.
The forecast promised a milder day, so I collected my plein air gear and off I ventured to a favorite park. I needed to get back in sync with nature and paints.
When I arrived the warmth of the sun allowed for a short sleeve shirt. However, as time passed a colder breeze picked up. Luckily, I had taken extra layers just in case the weather didn’t cooperate. From experience, I know that weather by the ocean is always changeable, thus one must come prepared!
Throughout my session, the tide continued to go out. A gentle lapping kept me company, adding to the peacefulness as I worked in silence. On my high perch, I was privy to views of people walking, boating and chatting.
I have painted this view from various angles many times. Painting high up on a cliff provides a great sense of freedom. While the wooded area behind makes one feel protected. It feels like I’m tucked away in a quaint little corner of nature.
The park welcomes everyone! It is a place we all share in a similar experience with knowing nods and pleasant exchanges. We drink in nature’s serenity…she knows how to soothe and refresh.
I would love to hear what activities you find soothing when embraced by nature!
Why Paint En Plein Air?
(En plein air—”of or relating to painting in outdoor daylight” Merriam Webster Dictionary)
Many moons ago, I felt dissatisfied with my landscape paintings, but more content with my still life. I realized the reason for this was because my still life paintings were created through direct observation of my subject. In other words I painted by observing a living subject before me.
Although my landscape paintings were created from my own photos, I felt like there was something missing in my connection to them. Something niggled at me, pushing me to dig deeper into this sense of unease.
During those early years, the internet wasn’t the place you went to acquire an abundance of information like present day! I had always loved Emily Carr’s paintings, but was not familiar with her books. I discovered her books at my local library which led me down a garden path so to speak!
Outdoor sketching was as much longing as labour. Atmosphere, space cannot be touched, bullied like the vegetables of still life or like the plaster casts. These space things asked to be felt not with fingertips but with one’s whole self.
~Emily Carr
I was greatly inspired and in awe of her devotion to working directly from life in the wilderness of Canada. With great dedication she set out to capture not only the beauty before her, but the emotion felt. I knew this was the answer to my conundrum. I needed to pack up my painting gear and head out into nature.
Unlike now, there really wasn’t a plethora of information on plein air painting available with regards to supplies and basic how to’s. I would just have to wing it and set out on my own without any prior knowledge. It definitely felt like I was stepping into the unknown, but at the same time it felt exciting and that it would bring rewards in artistic growth.
You will have to experiment and try things out for yourself and you will not be sure of what you are doing. That's all right, you are feeling your way into the thing.
~ Emily Carr
Well, I can definitely attest to the fact that this was one of the best actions I had ever taken to grow as an artist! My first outings were awkward and I definitely fumbled around, but oh the rewards were great! I discovered it was this sensory experience I was missing in my landscape work. I was hooked!
Over the years, I became more sophisticated in my attempts—-refining my paintings so they actual looked like finished work. My technical skills grew, as well as my reverence for nature. Nowadays, I switch between studies with less refinement and paintings that I work on over a series of days on location.
Over the past year I’ve had a strong desire to create larger cloud themed paintings. Due to the ever-changing and elusiveness of this subject it will be more practical to work from life in the form of studies or small paintings. My studies and notes will guide and stir my memory of place, not just photographs.
I always say, it is the experience and emotion felt when working from living subjects that is at the heart of my work. My life and experiences all drive what I create which I hope somehow gets translated into the work in the end. Well one can only strive for that outcome; a life journey for sure.
“Art is art, nature is nature, you cannot improve upon it.... Pictures should be inspired by nature, but made in the soul of the artist. It is the soul of the individual that counts.”
~ Emily Carr
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