LibertyTown Arts Workshop Plein Air Exhibit ~ Potomac Artworks

7.07.2012

LibertyTown Arts Workshop Plein Air Exhibit

In their first ever plein air exhibit, LibertyTown in Fredercksburg is hosting plein air artwork created in the last year. The exhibit runs through September 1 and I have four pieces in it: two pastels from Burke Lake and two pen/ink/watercolors from our cruise last summer.

Leaving Miami
5x7
pen/ink/watercolor

1 comment:

Sarika Barua said...: Reall Nice Man...What a superb Combination of Pen Ink and water colour...loved it a lot...; July 19, 2012 at 12:13 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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7.07.2012