Honeymoon Island ~ Potomac Artworks

4.30.2009

Honeymoon Island

Sometimes it's fun doing things out of character.

Beginning in classes again has forced me to pull out old pictures. This one I took of a sunset at Honeymoon Island, Florida, has always intrigued me. I'll admit to generally being anti sunrise and sunset paintings, as the believability factor is low for me. In fact, I'll see a cloud formation or sky color, love it, and then think it could not be believable when painted. Call it my Pessimistic Artistic License.

So, my goal here is less being believable, although the sky was just this way; I merely wanted to step out of bounds. Alas, there is no green.

Honeymooon Island, WIP
pastel on slate blue Pastelboard, 8x10

1 comment:

..........................FP said...: I like it also that it doesn't have a strict patch of green. The colors set the right mood for what you intend to be.; June 25, 2009 at 5:50 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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4.30.2009