Plein Air Paint Out- Day 6

I had forgotten to mention that at Jurupa park I ended up with a fan, he happened to be Canadian goose that followed me around the lake all day. Then someone actually fell into the lake trying to get to close. Plein air is not for the faint of heart! We went to the Oak Quarry Golf Course again. It turned out to be a beautiful day to paint. We started early and then stopped to have lunch in the club house. In the afternoon the sun came out and created beautiful light. The golfers are amazed to see so many people painting the golf course instead of playing on it. We have had a lot of buzz about the paint out. CBS news was out doing a story on plein air artists and then the local paper was out taking photos. The group is wonderful, so many amazing artists and everyone is warm and fuzzy!

Plein Air Paint Out- Day 5

Jurupa Regional Park

I am posting these all on one day as I have been feeling defeated and tired when I get home. The sun, the pressure and the concentration are making me feel like giving up. Everyone keeps telling me how horrible their first paintings were when they started painting Plein air and not to give up, so I am telling myself everyday is a new day. Really!? Why does it feel like everyday is worse than the one before! LOL Today we went to Jurupa Regional Park which is also a camping site. They have beautiful lakes for fishing and more bike trails and you can have dogs so Chloe came along for the ride. I decided to paint smaller, bite sized paintings since one of the hardest parts of Plein air is editing what to paint. It becomes a sensory overload as you take in the surroundings and then have to choose what to paint. I find that the biggest problem is trying to capture too much information on your canvas, dah, thats for sure. I have been analyzing myself and I have also started talking to myself! This could be a bad sign.  During one of these episodes I told myself if I painted smaller canvases it would be more like my sketchbook.  Therefore forcing me to crop and edit what I would paint. WRONG!  I crammed 3 palm trees, background trees, midground brush, shoreline, lake and reflections on a 5"x7" LOL I am hopeless! It was a better day though since I did have to leave off the gazebo and the fallen log.  I managed to get three smaller pieces done. Today was also cloudy and cold, we heard that a new storm is coming our way. Tomorrow we are back at the Oak Quarry in our down jackets and I hope to make myself settle in and get something painted!

Day 3&4 - Plein Air Paint Out

Day 3 and 4 were harder days that left me frustrated and tired. Martha McLean Park was nice and I started a pastel of the train bridge going over the water. I didn't finish it and my finger was so sore from sanding off all my fingerprints from blending the pastels on that sanded paper. We took Chloe and as we were on our way home the painting slid off the back seat and onto Chloe's bed which smeared all the pastels. Sorry no post for that day unless I get it fixed inbetween. The Oak Quarry Golf course was beautiful but I just had a hard time settling in. We were all scattered across dirt hills and on the deck of the country club restaurant. It was empty when I arrived and I started painting and was fighting with my set up and paints etc when I turned around to see a restaurant full of people watching us paint. AHHHH I just wasn't ready for that, I decided to move again and then just left. Thursday will be another day there so hopefully it will go better. I got my new Pentel Pocket pen and decided to play a bit, here is my poor excuse of a painting or sketch. I am sharing everything, good and bad, mosty bad at this point. Plein air is challenging!

Day 2- Plein Air Paint out

Today I was a bit later than yesterday, about 9:00, the continental breakfast was over and they were all on there way out to grab their sites for the day. My little support group and I drove around looking for an area to paint and I decided on the Coffee Depot. It was a part of the original train station that was built in 1904. It closed in 1971 and remained closed about 30 years until Geof Gaines purchased it and renovated it for the Coffee Depot. It was much more than just a coffee house, as it was also a theater, concert venue, etc. Read more by following the links provided. Anyway, I love this building and when it closed on Dec. 26, 2010 it saddened the community. It still sits vacant and I decided to ignore the giant "For Lease" sign, the Coffee Depot truck and painted it.

I spent a few hours on this and I realize I need lots of practice painting plein aire. It was a beautiful day but when that wind blew it was so cold. It is supposed to be warming up and the rain is gone, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Jennifer managed to get a sunburn with her sunglasses on, she looks like a racoon now!

Vasquez Rocks- photo meetup group

We went with the photo meetup group to Vasquez Rocks. These rocks seem to jet out of the earth at these sharp angles and can reach up to 150 feet tall. Made of sandstone the rocks are barren and void of most vegetation, it was like being on a different planet, a moonscape. The area has been featured in many movies, advertisements and music videos.  I ended up painting two watercolors and did one small 5x7 pastel. These were all done with no prior drawing  and sitting with Jennifer on a picnic table while Randy hiked up the mountains to get some vista view photos. I was glad that the weather is still cold enough that I think most of the snakes are hybernating since we ended up walking around the mountains to find another plein aire paint group that was there. The weather was perfect and afterwards we all went to lunch and then to another site were oil was discovered in Calif back in the 1800's

" The Little Artist's"

Saturday was my latest venture with the Plein Aire group, this time Marta went along. We agreed to paint at a function called "Art in the Garden" at some private homes that were having tours through their gardens. They scattered the artists at all the homes that were on the tour. Marta and I were assigned to the same home. We decided to walk the property and decide where we would paint without all our gear first. We were required to paint from 10:30 - 4:30. It was only 10 am but it was in the 80's, we knew it was going to be a long, hot day. At one point during the day the owner, showing the property, referred to us as "the little artists". We had to laugh because we knew she was referring to her assumption of our social status but we decided to claim it as our body size. Its all in your perspective, right!? I have decided that everyone has an opinion about artists, maybe because the term is over used and is too vague. I hate to even call myself artists most of the time because I think people expect someone with blue hair and tons of jewelry with only part of their brain working. I think I look too main stream to qualify, so who really qualifies as an artist? Is it an education in art, or a teaching degree, award winning recognitions or just a gift to create. This word "Artist" is used to describe painters, sculptures, people who draw, designers, quilters, hair stylists, and Michelangelo. There seems to be no true qualifications to call ourselves artists, we can just assume the title. Years ago you had to study under the masters as an apprentice for years before you could consider yourself an artist. So maybe, we are little artists, that's OK, because its a journey. We come with different skill sets and exposure but with a desire to learn and improve, so I will enjoy being little because I have the ability to grow.

Here are my two paintings I did, they are fair, not too exciting, this plein aire thing is almost as challenging as some of the people I have met lately.