PLEIN AIRE PAINTING HAS ITS CHALENGES. WIND, BUGS, SUN , NO SUN.

SO WHY do this ? There is something about the painting you pull off regardless of the elements. Something that shows in the painting that does not appear in studio from photos paintings. At least , my paintings , seem to hold this to be true.
This past month , I have been painting in ST GEORGE ISLAND FLORIDA. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST PAINTING I did four weeks ago. So this will not be quite a diary of my days of painting. Some of my efforts have been small craft paintings... using the photos I have taken since I arrived. I have taken hundreds of photos of birds, butterflies, shells. this water color tried to capture the fauna of the bay area. Some of these trees have been there for years.

This is from my many photos. Not sure of what i was tryig to say here.

This was done quickly to capture the men fishing as well as the surrouding scenery with EASTPOINT in the distance.

One of my favorite things to paint are people doing ... a job.. o r just going through motions.. their gesture s tell a story.

My first try the day I arrived.. Made chair too small. I will try again from photos. That is a nother chalenge of Plein Aire or painting on location. Errors.

Studies of people . Bright colors of umbrellas

I took so many bird photos. I have turned them into studies.

more to come.....

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I AM NOT TRYING TO PROMOTE IPAD SALES. BUT I am having a lot of fun drawing with my ipad and sharing what I have learned with

people who have an IPAD. The elephant was done with HELLO WATERCOLOR AP.

SOME  people have remarked that they prefer real paint. So do I, however, I used the AP on the bus trip to the  Grand Canyon and to Yellow Stone., sitting in dentist office,and doctors office. I use it when I cannot  sleep AND WHEN PLANNING A PAINTING. I ALSO USE IT TO PRACTICE.

I would love to beable to draw animals better. This is painless and quite a frugal way to not waste supplies. I say that to people who feel that they just  want to enjoy the process of drawing and painting. Could I  print out the renditions? Yes and make cards from the images. some aps allow printing words on the image.  I  PREFER the AP  IPASTEL  because of its ease and endless color choices.  I have also learned that I can import and export images from one program to another. 

This is an ipad drawn image. I will be teaching painting on the IPAD. THIS IS USING ONE OF THE

 PROGRAMS I have downloaded lately. Below is a demopastel painitng i did for art classes  at  Oakrun. I f it looks  like AUDREY HEPBURN,  then I achieved my goal.

 

 This is a watercolor painting I plan to teach this fall for the pastel and watercolor class.I am using what i learned from Nita Ingle's class.

Pencil drawing I used to teach this summers drawing class.

I want to share more of  what I have been doing  with the IPAD. I find drawing and  creating images the best  way to quell bubbles of self doubt, anxiety other wise  called  worrying about the future, and just  making  time pass with a feeling  of  somewhat  an accomplishment.
drawing on the bus traveling to and  from each destination on my YELLOWSTONE/MT.RUSHMORE   trip , made  me  draw not so much what I see..but what I saw and thereby forcing me to draw the important things that said western lasnscape.
i want to do this more. Perhaps not looking at the still life or landscape... hmmmm..I do  like accuracy.. paying  attention so that  spatial placement is  accurate.

A FRIEND SENT THIS TO ME TODAY
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the
day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear
bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.



TAKE TIME TO LIVE....

I have seen painting that moved me and made me think.. As I look at my latest paintings this past two weeks... are there any that show rain.. cold...heat.. any emotion?
THAT WILL BE MY AIM THIS WEEK..

I  have stated before that art has opened more doors than I even thought I would beable to pass through.

NEXT WEEK I will teach a   drawing class. I would like to use the park for

inspiration. The drawing of the  barn below is from a  photo I took years ago with a group of artist from Louisiana.

As we traveled to Georgia for a watercolor workshop with Tony Van HASSETT , we saw this barn

near the gas station. I remembered traveling the same area with my father and mother.

 This drawing would be an example of dark ,mid tone, and light. The brightest brights and the deepest darks are in sections to create the illusion of shadows.
By using hard pencils  H and HB , I made the trees in the background seem to be behind the barn. I used them also, to suggest that the barn had an advertisement for a local tourist draw back in the 40'snad 50's.

This is a pastel I did

when my daughter had her first child Richard. Richard ..Bud is 25 now .

 

 

I was interrupted when writing the last post. I did not want to lose  my last post.
I wanted to add to the pictures and paintings the fact that I painted from the IPAD when the bus was rolling.
THERE  was not alot of down time for me to paint. I did some of paintings below on the ipad as  we  viewed the sites.
 WHAT is this fascination with rocks and  streams I seem to have?

 I am just back from a great trip TO THE WEST.
UTAH,WYOMING, IDAHO,SOUTH DAKOTA . I highly recommend TRAFALGAR TOURS for their attention to comfort and details. I FOUND THE DRIVER AND  GUIDE  so kind and considerate of the older , less able to maneuver travelers. The trip was made more  enjoyable by the planned trips to museums . JACKSON HOLE IS A GREAT  place to visit for artist  and  collectors of  art.                            I painted the top scene from the balcony of our hotel in Jackson. Also, the second painting of ASPENS was done from the balcony. I fell in LOVElove with theTETON mountains .

IT is not easy to know what you like. Most people fool themselves their entire lives .... robert henri
THE ART SPIRIT

I WILL  show three paintings I did this week.While I like the methods used in them, they are not the same .
What method I use depends on the subject. I could use the same through out but I seem to resort to
past workshops from the different teachers I have experienced.

The following are acrylic on mat board. I love to work on toned backgrounds. Especially dark warm colors.  A CONTRADICTION I ADMIT TO EVEN WHEN I JUST START A PAINTING.

This will be the painting I teach in NOV. AT THE MASTER THE POSSIBILITY CLASS.

my long time art friend

Theresa Trahan sent this set up FOR A STILL LIFE  to me . I missed

on my drawing of a darling white and blue pitcher.

BELOW  IS A PAINTING  I did studying Dreamer Toll Perry 's painting.

THE painting below was done by JUDY Rudolph . I t si a watercolor she did in my watercolor class a few months ago.

more of my schedule will be on my web site.

 

MORE ROBERT HENRI

In the drawing of a tree there is a dominant line of growth throughout.

Some times your treemust be so specialized that an expert on trees would be  fully satisfied.

Other  times it does not matter if it is even a tree.

watercolor full sheet

 

WHY PAINT PEOPLE? MARY WHYTE WRITES(Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor : "Having an interest in painting people opens
up an even greater world of  possibilities and rewards. The human face is an endless landscape of shapes ,texture, and nuances of color.

This is a watercolor done on traditional watercolor paper.

It was painted from a photograph.
The painting below was done on  a n IPAD.
 

This sketch was  also done on the Ipad.

I am learning about this skill called painting , rendering, creating.

Mary Whyte

paints real subjects in a real way. I need to take some pictures of attempts I have made  lately to explain what I mean.

 

YESTERDAY THE ART GROUP FOR OTOW  MET in the  art room . We welcomed Vince back and then painted till 12 noon. Here are some of what we  accomplished.

DOLORES painting a palette knife flower market



Margaret painted a beauitful scene.

Vince portrait painting. Welcome back. My contribution was a
palette knife flower market scene . Dolores and I created a similar painting.

Then I came home to paint and produced this syudy

of a DREAMER TOLL PERRY  painting. She works in oil and  I find that my pastel almost produces a similar look that I am really enjoying looking at and working with.

I want to take several paintings  i started out in my traditional way. my boring way.

Stay tuned.

TODAY I EXCITEDLY WORKED ON THIS  painting. I HAD AN idea that i wanted to do. It is like an itch that will not go away. Saturday. I palette knife oil painted the  second painting.

I was  excited to put these paintings into my web page. I bought a new computer so i could

update my WEB PAGE. However, folly that I have entertained this idea..the web site kept kicking me out. After contacting HOMESTEAD WEB SERVICES, I was  directed to download a free update. As I tried to :publish, the program said I would have to pay additional fees because I had  exceeded my pages????? I was on the first page...I had not added anything but paintings. I will call them in the morning. AHHH computers..LOVE UM AND  HATE THEM.

I painted this watercolor around December.I plan to complete it . Colored glass with light

coming in from a low angle is especially beautiful when light cast colors from the glass.

 

I USED MY IPAD PROGRAM TO do this

rendering of a light house in NOVA SCOTIA