Saturday Paint Out: Oatlands near Leesburg, VA ~ Potomac Artworks

8.20.2009

Saturday Paint Out: Oatlands near Leesburg, VA

Saturday beginning at 8:30 is a MAPAPA Paint Out at Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg hosted by the Virginia contingent, what I call VAMAPAPA. If you are interested in MAPAPA or are a member already, please join us in the parking lot; please use the Little Oatlands Gate. Admission is free for artists, but each must register at the gift shop after 9:45AM.

I've not painted at Oatlands before and I am quite eager for a good dose of Colonial architecture, although chances are I won't be painting it!

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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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8.20.2009