Sunday Paintings

On Sunday I painted Green Street in the morning and a Gumbo Limbo Tree in Peacock Park in the afternoon. I don't have pics yet, the ones shown with the post are earlier paintings from Peacock Park. Enjoy the Pics! I will be at Kennedy Park this morning.

Painting Yesterday - Everything Went Wrong but the Painting

It has been a rough couple days painting outside by Miami standards. It has been in the sixties and windy. Yesterday morning at Peacock Park in the Grove was particularly rough. First, I am still fighting symptoms from a cold from last week. I was wearing several layers of clothing including a knit hat and only my face was showing below my eyebrows (I wear latex gloves when I paint), but somehow even with the cool weather I got a sunburn on my nose and cheeks. At least I think it was sunburn. I was getting pelted in the face by sand from the stiff breeze that was constantly blowing. While I was painting, I had a nice conversation with a homeless man who dropped some very big names. Apparently one of his three girlfriends lives next door to Wayne Hizenga and they are on each other's holiday card list. During this chat, I felt a pinch in my lower back and immediately stiffened up. I laid flat on my back trying to stretch it out. I eventually sat up, nicely asked the gentleman to let me get back to work and found a position I could sit so I could make it through the painting in as little pain as possible. I ended up painting a dyptich (2 side by side paintings that go together as one composition) of a few families playing frisbee and soccer in front of the palm trees by the water. The paintings were the only nice part of the morning.

To cap off the morning, I got back to my truck and realized that I still had a little coffee leftover from Starbucks that morning. I picked it up and took a swig. When the first lump hit my tongue, I immediately spit it out. I realized this was not 3 hour old coffee. I finished that coffee and through it away as I was walking to the park. This coffee was from several days earlier. I had forgotten to throw it out.

Painting Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 23

I will be painting tomorrow, Wednesday, December 23 overlooking the water behind City Hall in the Grove. I may move over to Scotty's if I have a better view there. This is one of the paintings I did there last year.

En Plein Air Painting

What is En Plein Air painting?

En Plein Air painting is open air painting, or painting live on location.

As a painter, I have a choice of painting from direct observation (still life, en plein air, figure drawing, etc.), from photograph, or from imagination. A vast majority of my work is created from observation or photograph. Unless commissioned, I only work from my own photographs. One of my goals is to create a majority of my work from direct observation. Sometimes I will paint storms, sunsets or animals and working from photograph is necessary. Also, large paintings and difficult terrain will force me to work from photograph. In most other cases I prefer painting in front of my subject matter.

En Plein Air painting gives my work certain qualities that are lost when working strictly from photographs. The main quality lost is spontaneity. Given the duration of time I have to paint from life, because of the movement of the sunlight and shadows, I am forced to make decisions that are more instinctual. These decisions are what make gives my work its personality. I then try to take what I have learned about my own painterly instincts and apply that to my larger, in-studio pieces. I don't believe my best in-studio pieces would be the same without all the hard work I do in the field working en plein air.

Other qualities lost when working from photography are the vibrancy of the colors and perspective. No printer can produce the range and vibrancy of colors that the human eye can produce. My best chance of getting the colors true to life is to paint from direct observation. Also, it is easier to determine the depth at which objects sit in a landscape through the use of your own two eyes. Photographs are 2-dimensional surfaces and determining depth within them is often a guessing game. As well, the shape of a photographic lens can distort the edges of an image, altering proper perspective.

En Plein Air painting is a vital part of my work as an artist. Because of this, I have created exhibits dedicated to this form of painting. This February, I will be exhibiting a new series of En Plein Air paintings in a solo show titled Coconut Grove 24/7x11. The exhibit will be held on Friday, February 5, 2010. Exact details of the opening will be released shortly.

I have created this blog so you can follow the creation of these paintings. Keep visiting to see where I have been and where I plan on going and get a sneak preview of my paintings before they reach the gallery or art festival.