Plein-Air [ Painting ]

{so i apologize, i have been REALLY slacking with blog posts... i wrote this last friday for my blog, and Casey Wiegand's A Little Artsy blog, and thought I posted it here , but apparently i hadn't... so here it is :) }

last night i set out on my very first, real, plein-air experience.  i feel ashamed to admit it, but even in art school for landscape projects, i would cheat (just a little) and paint from photographs in the comforts of my nice temperature controlled dorm room.  this time i was determined to do it right.

my bf and i packed up our truck with the essentials (picnic basket filled with brushes, (oil) paint, palette, palette knife, and a rag & my easel) and drove the 1/2 mile (yes, we are lazy) down to the river.

My Palette ( i just use an upside down glass cutting board): no black, and a whole lotta white. I'm a big fan of whites and grays, and mixing my own black if i ever need it. i think store bought black is way too artificial and overpowering in most of my work.

with my portrait work i love working in thin, delicate glazes, but for this night i went sans any paint thinner, or linseed oil, and instead just brought a ton of brushes so i could just use a different one for each color family and not have to clean them.

things i learned about painting outdoors (in no particular order):

1.  don't paint at dusk, just after it has rained (killer bugs)...

2. ... but if you do, DON'T run out of bug spray....

3. ... but if you do, a wet canvas catches gnats and mosquitoes remarkably well ( you can probably see a few stuck in the pic above). if bugs do get stuck on your paint, don't bother trying to remove them while the paint is still wet. it's much easier to just brush/sand them off once the paint has hardened.

4. i found it really hard to paint looking directly at the sun (it hurts my eyes, and since i was painting at sunset, the sun moved too quickly for me to capture it exactly the way wanted too) so midway through i decided to focus just on the sky, and eliminate the sun in my image altogether.

5. if you're painting at sunset or sunrise (or being attacked by bugs), be prepared to work very quickly, and stay flexible with your desired goal.

6. i was taught this is school, but always forget... to add white last... white and i have a love/hate relationship. mostly love. but i did get frustrated when my colors got just a little too muted and muddied by white.  and find that i am most satisfied and end up with the purest and radiant color when i lay down transparent hues first, and then opaques (white)

7.  work smaller... i used an 11 x 14 canvas and think for about an hour's work, it was the perfect size.  i felt a little rushed, but it was do-able.  i think any larger, working so quickly, could have been a frantic disaster.

if i was to become a serious plein-air painter, i think i would probably invest in heavy duty citronella tiki torches, and a nice umbrella or tent to shield the sun.  i would love to spend an entire day at the beach, doing a one painting an hour.  hmm... ideas, ideas.

does anyone else have experience painting plein-air, any tips to make the transition from studio to outdoors any easier?  

its been a REALLY long time since i've tried painting landscapes... especially in just an hour. but for my first one in a few years i'm pretty pleased, and it was suprisingly refreshing to mix up my typical studio practice. try it soon!

i'm planning on doing a series of clouds.atmosphere.skyscapes. focusing on color (or lack there of, and whites), stay tuned!

Photo Shoot [ Fun ]

my amazing.beautfiul.freespirited.talented. friend, kathleen, and i had been talking for months about her photographing me, and in exchange, me painting a portrait of her.  it more recently occurred to me that those images could potentially be my new branding for Amaryllis Truth... and thats when my ideas ran wild.

last night as i was returning from painting down at the water, i got a call from this beautiful spirit, kathleen, frantic.  "allie, can you be dressed and ready to go in 10 minutes?! i'm on the way, we can't miss this light!!" so, off i went in a whirlwind to find my favorite dress, and find the most perfect place at the farm we live on to shoot.  fortunately, you can't tell in the photos that i'm covered in paint, with not a stitch of make-up on, nor a piece of hair curled.

but nevertheless, the images are AMAZING.  and are exactly what i have always wanted for Amaryllis Truth.  i'm only posting a little sneak peak and a few bloopers.  she's going to edit our favorites before i use them for my official banner and buttons.

let me know what you think!

isn't kathleen incredible! she's working on her website, so in the meantime if you would like to contact her for any work you can e-mail me for her info.  she is based in the annapolis, md area.

i love evenings that you think will be a boring movie and leftover pizza nights, that turn into such magical experiences.  hope everyone's week flew by as fast as mine did!

going home this weekend for a crab feast. YUM!

What a Week!

In-progress Install Shot, my little corner :)

So these pictures aren't great... I'm going in this afternoon to get my official install shots.  But I couldn't wait any longer.  This past week my show opened, displaying the work from my entire last year.  Here's a little blurb to help you better understand what I've been working on in my other life...

"At a time when our lives have become staged photo opportunities to be posted on Facebook, saved as screensavers, or tacked to our dorm room walls, I am ever intrigued by the way we recall our history.  In a world so dominated by imagery, where do our memories fit?  Which are more honest, more tangible, more everlasting?  After discovering family snapshots taken of a time I can no longer remember, before the death of my brother Avery, I am most disturbed by the disjunction between this parallel history of images that exist separate from my memory.  My work this past year has set out to reconcile this disconnection, creating a world in which these artifacts of my history can co-exist, while challenging and questioning their fleeting nature. "  

This week has been surreal, and it's finally setting in that I'm so close to the finish line.  Today is the the start of the last week of classes and the last Monday of my college career!  Only 19 days left until graduation!  

Thank you everyone for your support and patience, especially my friends and family who have been a shoulder to cry on and an ear to vent to, throughout this stressful, emotional, and rewarding experience!