Our second day of painting started with a hearty breakfast followed by an equally hearty “show and tell” of the work we did the day before. These sharing sessions always on go longer than one might expect, so it’s tough to get out to the field early! But, considering how windy it was again this morning, that was a good thing.
After sharing, we drove out to the Human History Museum, where the back porch offers stunning views of the Altar of Sacrifice, the Sundial and West Temple. We were also able to escape the wind here and then to have lunch after we finished painting.
For the afternoon, we hopped aboard the shuttle and went to one of my very favorite spots to paint, Court of the Patriarchs. There were some good shadows on the rocks, but since it was warm, we headed down to the Virgin River and into the shade of the cottonwoods.
Here’s a little video I shot while exploring for a painting spot –
Plus a pastel sketch I did.
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| Path to the Patriarchs, 12×9, pastel – SOLD |
Two painting sessions a day plus exploration up the river tired us out. I went back to the house to do laundry – we’d been on the road since before the Las Vegas Plein Air Convention & Expo – and shower. This evening, folks went out for dinner in small groups. (I know, these sound like rather quotidian details, but they give you an idea of how the retreat works.)
Tomorrow, we have a very special trip planned – a tour of Maynard Dixon’s home and studio in Mt Carmel plus painting on the property.
After the Plein Air Convention & Expo in Las Vegas, we headed for Springdale, Utah, where we are coordinating a weeklong painting retreat. We arrived Monday afternoon to get the rental house ready for our participants. The house is located right in the middle of town so we can walk to restaurants and shops, but it lies secure in its own quiet compound off the main street. If we want to take the shuttle into the park, the shuttle stops right at the end of the road. As you can see from this photo taken in the living room, it’s in a beautiful spot:
We are delighted to have a wide-ranging group, with people from Ontario, Tennessee, Florida, New Hampshire and Ohio. We’ve got both oil and pastel painters, so there’ll be plenty of opportunity to learn from each other. Today we ended up at the park’s Nature Center, where we had great views looking up the canyon. We started perhaps a little early – 8 a.m. – and the canyon was a bit windy and cool. (Tomorrow, we’ll head out later to give the wind a chance to die down.) After a lunch respite, we rode the free shuttle through the canyon, looking at a variety of possible painting spots. The last time I was here, it was in November with the beautiful fall foliage; I can say that spring is just as lovely, with the cottonwoods showing their full spring green.
Riding a shuttle builds up an appetite, so we stopped by the Bumbleberry Bakery and bought two bumbleberry pies and ice cream. Yum! Afterward, we painted around the evening view around the house.
We were up early this morning to head out to Bonnie Springs, about 10 miles west of Las Vegas. Although the Bonnie Springs paintout was advertised as “optional,” I do believe nearly the entire convention showed up to paint! What brought everyone out was the superb weather – plenty of sun and a mild breeze.
Bonnie Springs Ranch was originally built in 1843 as a stopover for wagon trains heading to California along the Old Spanish Trail. Today, it’s a tourist attraction that looks like an old movie set, complete with Wild West storefronts, boardwalks and pistol-toting denizens. I half-expected James Arness to pop out from the shadows. I opted to paint outside the town, with the Bonnie Springs Motel-Resort sign in the distance by the cottonwoods. (Once we get settled at our place near Zion National Park, I’ll take some photos of the pieces I painted and post them here.) It was interesting to see what scenes the other painters picked. I’d say about half set up outside the western town, and the others inside.
Late in the morning, Eric Rhoads announced it was time for a group photo shoot. At one point, we were all talking about having our easels with us, but when we realized how many of us there were and that we’d never fit in the lens, we gave up that idea. You can see how many of there are in the photo below. Is it possible this is the largest gathering of plein air painters ever?
This has been a great convention. Over the weekend, I ran into a lot of old friends and folks I’ve met over the years: Anne Laddon, Kim Lordier, Margi Lucena, Anita Louise West, Scott Prior, Brad Holt, Ed Terpening, Jeanne Mackenzie, Paul Kratter, Scott Gellatly…the list goes on, and I apologize if I’ve omitted anyone! If you’re reading this, it was wonderful to see you again. I must say that plein air painting sets up some enduring friendships. Some friends I see only once a year at plein air festivals – and sometimes the interval is even longer than that. But, it’s always like we’d only seen each other yesterday.
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| Scott Prior |
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| Ken Auster |
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| Margi Lucena, Anita Louise West, Trina and Me |
So now we’re on our way to Springdale and Zion National Park for a painting retreat with some friends. Along the way today, we stopped at the Virgin River for a hike. Here’s a taste of what’s to come this week.
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| Ken Auster on the Big Screen |
Tonight, I’m reporting from my hotel room in Las Vegas. Although the First Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo began on Thursday, Trina and I didn’t arrive until late that evening because of my teaching schedule. But even so, we were up early because I wanted to to get to the convention center by 6:30 a.m. for Eric Rhoads’ Marketing Boot Camp. (Eric is the publisher of Plein Air Magazine.) When we arrived bleary-eyed at the convention center, we were amazed. The conference room was nearly filled with painters eager for Eric’s early-morning advice!
And this set the tone for the last few days. I don’t know how many people are at the convention, but the conference room, which is vast, has been filled to overflowing for each event. Besides Eric’s wonderful three-part series on marketing, I’ve been able to watch demos or to listen to lectures from such art world luminaries as Ken Auster, Matt Smith, Scott Christensen and Kenn Backhaus. We also have had a special demonstration by Russian Master Nikolai Dubovik and a lecture on the history of plein air by noted American Impressionist scholar Jean Stern. Each day has been packed with exciting and informative events, and it’s been great to finally meet some of the folks I’ve admired through the pages of Plein Air Magazine. I just wish I could have gotten here for the first day!
In addition, we’ve had a great trade show with vendors like Gamblin, Judson’s Art Outfitters, King of Frame, Raymar Art and others. Unlike some conventions, which have overwhelming numbers of vendors, it was nice to be able to attend a smaller trade show with vendors offering products that really matter. I especially enjoyed meeting and chatting with Carl Judson and Robert Gamblin, who make the products I use every day. I also enjoyed chatting with PAM editor Steve Doherty. We’ve corresponded over the years, and it was great to meet him in person. (Steve was given a Lifetime Achievement Award today from Plein Air Painters of America. Congratulations, Steve!)
We’ve also had some impromptu art “happenings” here. One day, Alexey Steele and Gil Dellinger set up shop on the trade show floor to paint Pierre Sennelier‘s portrait. (Yes, Pierre is of the famous Sennelier family that supplied paint to Cezanne and Gauguin and invented oil pastels at the request of Picasso.) One afternoon, extreme plein air painter Cory Trepanier arrived from Canada to give us a special showing of his new documentary, “Into the Arctic II.” I spoke to him afterward about the possibility of joining him on a trip with other painters to the Arctic.
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| Alexey Steele and Gil Dellinger Prepare to Paint Pierre Sennelier |
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| Alexey Steele’s Finished Portrait |
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| Gil Dellinger’s Finished Portrait |
Today, Saturday, the lectures ended and it was time to go paint. Although we had spitting rain Friday – a rare thing for Las Vegas – we had hoped it would end by the time we went out to paint today. It didn’t quite end, and we had bouts of drizzle and some pretty strong wind. But who cared? The mountains were just gorgeous with clouds and peek-a-boo sunspots. I think all the painters were energized by the weather. After I did my two paintings, I walked around a bit and was impressed by the quality of the work.
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| Painters at Spring Mountain Ranch |
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| Me on Location, Here and Below |
Tomorrow, it’s off to Bonnie Springs for one last morning of painting. The weather promises to be sunny. I’ll report on the last day when I have time to write.
By the way, Eric Rhoads announced the location for the 2013 Second Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo. It’ll be near Pacific Grove, California, at Asilomar. I’m enjoying this year’s so much, I hope I get invited back for the next one!
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| Munds Mountain Sublime, 6×12, pastel |
Last year, when I was one of the artists invited to participate in the Zion National Park “In the Footsteps of Thomas Moran” plein air event, I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people who weren’t painters. They were collectors or admirers of art, or they were just passing through and were curious. One gentleman said, “You know, I don’t paint myself and I can’t afford any of these paintings, but just looking at them has changed the way I see. Now when I hike through the Park, I feel like I’m in a painting.”
This statement bowled me over. I didn’t occur to me that what we painters were doing could affect people so much. We were like some magic compound ingested by the spectators, opening Huxley’s doors of perception. We were rewiring neurons, altering states of consciousness, and – perhaps this is a presumptuous thought – maybe even redirecting the path of evolution. Who would have thought painting could be such a powerful agent of change?
Speaking of change, after my workshop tomorrow, I’ll be heading off to Las Vegas for the 1st Annual Plein Air Convention and Expo. This is an exciting event – so many painters! I’m looking forward to it, and also to making some new friends. Afterward, it’s off to Zion National Park. I’ll try to post from both locations. Stay tuned!
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| Spring Sycamores, 9×12, oil |
My final Paint Sedona workshop of the season ended yesterday. We painted down by Oak Creek, and I did a demonstration of one of the lovely Arizona Sycamores that tower over the water. I always enjoy painting the sycamores. They are a drawing challenge, but the experience of capturing their sinuous lines can be very satisfying. And, of course, sunlight on the white bark against a blue sky always makes the heart skip!
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You just inherited a box of oil paints from your recently-deceased grandmother. They’re so old the addresses on the tubes don’t even use zip codes. So, are the paints still good?
If the tubes haven’t been punctured and the caps are on securely, yes. So long as oil paint hasn’t been exposed to air, it should still be fine. Oxygen is what causes oil paint to dry. (It actually doesn’t dry but polymerizes.) You may have to wrench the cap off with a pair of pliers, but if the paint is still fluid enough to squeeze out, it’s usable.
Sometimes, though, the oil and the solids in the paint will separate. If this happens, you can squeeze the separated oil out on a newspaper to get rid of it; if there’s a lot of it, though, the paint may no longer have sufficient oil for the paint to be fluid. If the paint is unworkable, toss it.
Of course, none of this is a problem with pastels! Pastels stay good for decades, maybe even centuries. I pulled out a couple of old boxes of Grumbacher pastels for you to see. Grumbacher hasn’t made square pastels for years, and these are square. One of the boxes doesn’t have a zip code, which dates it back to at least 1963.
I thought I’d also include a recent pastel (made with fairly new pastels) for your enjoyment. If you’d like to purchase it, you can do so in the studio store.
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| Oak Creek Ripples, 12×9, pastel |
Update: I have a 2012 workshop at the Art Barn that still has some space left. The dates are May 7-9, 2012. For details, visit http://www.artbarnin.com/. Below is about last year’s;
“The Figure in the Landscape” seems to be a popular theme in plein air workshops. After this week’s workshop in Indiana, I’m seriously considering doing one that I’ll call “Chickens in the Landscape.” At the Art Barn, where the workshop was held, we were up to our ankles in chickens. Chickens scratched in the dirt, pecked at the ground and even examined a pastel stick or two. They were a lot of fun to watch, and we found that they are particularly fond of watermelon rind. Scatter a few pieces in the grass, and you’ll have a whole harem posing for you.
The Art Barn is one of my favorite places to teach a workshop. The upstairs of the barn provides a great studio space for lectures and escaping the hot springtime sun. The grounds seem to go on forever and provide a wealth of good subjects. The other night, we took a hike up to the hilltop and saw trillium, spring beauties, violets, mayapples and jack-in-the-pulpit in full bloom. Springtime doesn’t get any better than this.
Below are a couple of demonstrations I did, including, of course, some chickens.
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| Thomas Cole’s paint box |
I’m like many outdoor painters in that I’m a bit of a “gearhead.” I love gadgets. And for the outdoor painter, there’s no more fascinating gadget than the field easel. After years of evolution – from Thomas Cole’s modest lap paintbox to some of today’s turbocharged, multi-tasking pochade boxes – there are many to choose from. So, what’s best?
Well, that all depends. Where you paint, when you paint and how you paint will make some easels better for you than others. And, things change. What worked for you yesterday may not work for you today. I have maybe a dozen or more different easels and boxes. Some I use all the time; some I pull out for specific occasions; some I should probably just put up for sale on eBay.
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| Heilman “Backpack” pastel box, mounted on tripod (in Jerome, Arizona) |
The main thing I’m looking for in an easel is stability and sturdiness. It has to be able to stand up to the wind and to my innate clumsiness. If it doesn’t meet these basic qualifications, I don’t use it.
I have three basic easels I use. First, is my 9×12 Guerrilla Painter box. It’s well-built, holds all my paint and panels, and fits on an easily-detached tripod, making it very portable. If I don’t want to bother with the tripod, I can use it in my lap or on a picnic table. Although I’ve added an optional part that lets me put up to a 12×16 panel on it, I typically use it for 9×12 panels and smaller.
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| 9×12 Guerrilla Painter pochade box for oil, mounted on tripod ( at Zion National Park) |
Second is my Gloucester-style easel. Thanks to its three long legs and two crossbars, it’ll stand up to a gale. I have to carry a separate palette box – I use an Easyl Classic for this – which fits on the crossbars. I use bungee cords to secure it. The Gloucester-style easel will also hold a huge canvas. I’ve painted as large as 24×30 on it, and I know it will go much bigger. (Pictured below is the Beauport, but because of a number of issues with this Chinese knockoff, I recommend the American-made Take-It-Easel.)
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| Gloucester-style easel, with separate paint box on crossbars (on Campobello Island, NB) |
Finally, I use a French easel. Mine is a Mabef, and it’s made of hard maple with durable hardware. (Don’t get the cheap ones made of a soft wood like elm; they last less than a year with heavy use.) It’s heavy, but it’s sturdy, and it can also accomodate a variety of sizes. If I’m painting larger than 9×12 but smaller than 16×20, I’ll probably use this one. I also take it as a spare on road trips.
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| Mabef French easel (in Sedona, Arizona) |
The best advice I can give for someone looking for a good easel or pochade box is to take a workshop. At workshops, not only can use see what the instructor likes to use, but you can also see what the other students are using. Usually, at my workshops, I’ll see a half-dozen setups. It’s a great way to evaluate them without having to buy one of each!
In a previous post, I wrote about the problem with using a red filter as an aid to evaluating value in the landscape. The tool I prefer is the Viewcatcher. A simple piece of grey plastic with a slider, its main purpose is to help select and isolate a scene. But it’s got another use, too. There’s a hole in it that you can use for judging value.
The Viewcatcher is colored a neutral, mid-value grey. If you’re having trouble discerning the value of a particular part of your scene, you can look at it through the hole. If what you see through the hole is darker than the grey of the Viewcatcher, you can call that part “dark.” If lighter, then you can call it “light.” If it matches the grey value, then you can call it a “mid-value.” I know this sounds obvious, but right there you have three values. You only need four to paint a landscape.
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| Light Value |
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| Dark Value |
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| Mid-Value |
I find it particularly useful when I’m trying to decide if some light shape, such as a sunny roof top, is lighter or darker than the sky. Although both will look light in the Viewcatcher, the grey surrounding the hole makes it easier to judge the relative value.
When you use the Viewcatcher, try to keep the side facing you in shadow. That is, don’t let sun spill on it. Keeping it in shadow will make it easier to evaluate value.
By the way, my Studio Sale is still going on. Also, I want to remind you about my online video course. I’ve beefed up the offerings by adding oil and pastel supplements to the basic course.
A Plein Air Painter's Blog 