Tuesday, February 21, 2017

First Plein Air of 2017



Picture perfect setting

Early spring means sometimes we have warm (for New England) days while there is still snow on the ground. Around the corner from my house is an old farm, where the owners have made the majority of the property conservation land, available for use by everyone.

Painters at work

This day, several members of the Artist Guild of Shrewsbury got together for the first plein air of the season.  We have painted here before, but this is the first snow visit. In addition to the scenery, as usual, I was attracted to what might not be considered the most scenic, in this case, the piles of logs being readied for removal.

Logs (and mud)

I find painting outdoors improves my work since I have to work fast (and when it starts getting chilly, you work even faster).




In the first painting, I tried to include too much. The second version reduced and simplified, making the composition stronger.

Overwhelmed by options


Simpler is better 

In the third, I wanted to work on getting more dark areas into my watercolor, so I forced myself to mix some very dark paint for the water.

That water feels cold!

After painting, back to the house for refreshments and critique. Looks like the weather will be warm all week, so maybe we'll get out again!


 
Critique session