First half Pleinairpril and art class!
Holy cow!! It has been a wild ride on the art train!
First, I am taking a Zoom art class. It is 2 hours long on Saturday mornings in April. The instructor is an artist I have followed on YouTube, primarily for her journaling style. The class is a combination of beginner drawing and watercolor with water brush.
I absolutely love how she teaches … the pace, the techniques … it is fun as well as educational. She teaches understanding underlying shapes and understanding those before diving into loose or freehand drawing.
As shown below, a circle is within a square. When the perspective changes, the square becomes a trapezoid and so the circle becomes an ellipse which is flatter on the top part and rounder on the bottom.
This approach really resonates with the programmer/engineer’s daughter … me!
*** we worked from a reference photo she had of the McDonald’s coffee cup and a muffin.
First class we did the drawing and practiced shapes.
Second class we painted. And before painting we did a lot of paint mixing to understand the colors we would use. Becky guided us through the process as well as the shading.
Tomorrow (Saturday, 4/20) we move to a more detailed drawing. In addition to the Zoom class, the class is recorded and posted so I have been able to review and retry things.
AND, it is helping in my Pleinairpril waterbrush painting … getting better color contrast and shading.
So.
Pleinairpril first half: 4/1-4/15. My expectations of going out and about in the Jeep to some of my favorite photography spots and painting small landscapes turned out to be very challenging physically, mentally and artistically (my beginner skill set!). I had anticipated weather challenges and planned on painting outside close to my house when the weather was bad … even that was often tiring. There were many days when I just wanted to paint in my office at my comfortable art desk in my supportive chair.
Also, my results were pretty horrible. But one of the “rules” of Pleinairpril is to focus on the positive: getting outside, adventurous outside art … “the journey not the destination”. I was able to find a little something in each painting that I felt was something done ok and newly learned, but there was still some frustration and discouragement.
However, I regrouped yesterday morning and decided to keep things simpler for Pleinairpril: the 2nd half.
Overall, despite the frustration and disappointment at my results and the physical challenges … I am enjoying the challenge!
From the first half:
On 4/5, there is no photo in the journal. I received a call late on 4/4 that windows I’d ordered and were to be installed in May … were in and the company had a cancellation for 4/5 … would I like the last minute install? YES, I would!!
Emmett, Oscar and I were gated into the kitchen and living room to give the installers access to the office and bedroom. I did not want to leave them with all of the commotion, so I painted at my kitchen island from a reference photo.
It was a fun reprieve from the outdoor kit and conditions and totally worth it … I LOVE the windows, especially the awning windows in the office:
The windows open out from the bottom for air flow but there is no obstruction of the view or light. The sunroom has 2 more windows plus the sliding glass door. There is not a day since the install when I have not marveled at the view through these windows.
So … 4/6 – 4/9. 4/7 … masking fluid disaster. YIKES. I decided to try masking fluid with no practice :(
On 4/15, I was not feeling 100% and decided on an inside still life of a few pansies from the 4/11 painting.
Ultimately a varied experience and a lot learned!
Most days, I set up my Insta360 X3 and took some video of my location and setup. The video below has a montage of days 1-15 after an introductory summation of my experience and plan for 4/16-4/30.
Meanwhile, Emmett, Oscar and I enjoy the Northwest Montana Spring of warm, cold, snow, rain, sleet and repeat!
