NOVAL Happenings ~ Potomac Artworks

11.10.2008

NOVAL Happenings

Wednesday night is NOVAL's monthly meeting. Saturday is their regular "Paint Out," which will thankfully be a "Paint In."

A number of us with congregate Saturday at Great Gatherings in Gainesville to paint 11-3. Some artists might work from pictures; some might construct a still life. I haven't decided yet about topic or medium, but I am leaning toward trying some pool balls. We'll also be able to set up our own little art store, so it'd be a great place to watch art being created as well as pick up finished paintings.

I scouted some pictures of the location recently; it's a cool store carrying pool tables to shuffleboards to various card/gaming tables to outdoor furnishings. Great eye candy, indeed.

Great Gatherings Slideshow

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: I like witnessing your work.; November 16, 2008 at 6:51 PM

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The Charm of en Plein Air

Much of my work is done en plein air, French for "in the open air." People often associate it with the Impressionists, but the move to paint outside preceded them by a number of decades. The trend to appreciate landscapes as a genre at all was new for the time.

Several characteristics contribute to the distinctive beauty of en plein air painting. They are generally smaller in size in order to be able to capture a scene in a single sitting. Because of the time limit and environmental factors such as the sun and shadows moving, they often lack extensive details and might appear slightly fuzzy or unfinished. Lastly, they tend to have a freshness and spontaneity which makes them impossible to compare to traditional and methodological studio work. That said, my own studio work tends toward the same feel as en plein air, which then identifies my overall style: softness with an edge.

My aim when painting en plein air is for alla prima paintings, which roughly translates for me as "what happens outside, stays outside." It adds another level of difficulty to the work.

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11.10.2008