Skies and More Skies ~ Potomac Artworks

5.07.2011

Skies and More Skies

For Saturday, May 14, at the Workhouse's Second Saturday from 6p until probably 8p, I will be doing a demo in oil in W-16. My goal will be to finish a painting and have a wet canvas sale at the end. Please stop by if you're in the area.

Sometimes artists have a little ping of regret when a piece sells. Last year at the Workhouse, I sold a beautiful 5x7 in the most glorious gold frame. It was a Old Masters gem based on a photo I took near Nokesville, VA.

Let's hope I have the same ping on Saturday. I will be recreating, to some degree, Evening Flame in a larger format, using a wonderful Pannelli Telati fine cotton panel again. They are perfectly smooth, which is the feel I want for a sunset.

If you happen by the Workhouse, look for my wall of paintings, an unusual honor as I requested my submissions for the month be displayed together. When I paint this sky, I will be surrounded by other skies I've created in pastel and oil, to include the two most recent posts here. This will be a lot of fun.

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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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5.07.2011