The Lessons of Plein Air Painting

I just keep reminding myself, THIS IS ALL ABOUT LEARNING.

Today I went out with two friends to 11-Mile Canyon, a delightful road following a river.  The weather was PERFECT.  And we sat on the rocks and painted.  And painted.  And then we moved to a different rock, and painted some more.  Except for the bugs that tend to land in your wet paint, and the fact that we dropped the roll of paper towels in the river, it was a delightful day!

And I am learning.  I tend to be too rushed when I'm painting outdoors.  As if the sky were about to open and dump on me within seconds (not true...the sky was deligtfully clear!).  So I need to slow down just a touch.  And be more careful with my color mixing, because frankly...these are DARK.  And allow myself to put in more depth, instead of just having the background be a general mush.

So far, I think that's what I'm supposed to learn.

Oh, and "never, never, never give up"!

Inked Poppies

Oof!  Busy week!  School, doctor bills, phone calls, art projects (not yet finished), and nowhere near enough sun.  "Lift up the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord!" (ps 4).  May you revel in His presence.

Family Reunion

Recently I was reminded of my parent's 50th anniversary, which is now passed and I MISSED IT!  Shame mounts.  With hindsight growing, I've been pondering a project for them, which has me writing down birth dates, looking up old pics, and re-checking the spelling of my grandparents' names.  It made me think of this painting I did last December for my aunt.  Clearly she loves chickens as much as I do!  I called this "Family Reunion", and it's great fun trying to figure out which chicken is which cousin!

Meeting Fodder?

 

Is it rude to doodle during a meeting?  I mean...ideas were flying, people were talking, jokes were being shared, some people were taking notes...and in this particular meeting an adorable baby/toddler was munching on pretzels.  So, surely I can doodle?  Someone mentioned something about a family tree, and away went my brain with my pen in hot pursuit!  It really couldn't be helped.

From my Sketchbook

 

I was reminded the other day that to improve I must SKETCH EVERY DAY.  There are artists out there who are much better than I am who sketch, sometimes for hours, every single day.  It's a discipline that brings beautiful rewards, but laziness and busy-ness constantly interrupt.

I started this drawing before the fall (ha....that doesn't mean before Adam sinned!), and I've been working on it in small bits and pieces.  Someday it'll be done.  Someday.

How do you spell "sajauaro"? Sujuaro...Sojuaro...Sejuaro...

 

More ink!  I have this thought in my head that the huge desert sky lends itself well to some quirky decoration.  Therefore I put in stripes and chunky stars!  Couldn't help myself.

ChickChickChickChickChickChickChickChickChickChickChickChickChick!!

I seem to have a thing for chickens!  Maybe I need to build a chicken coop and become a chicken-herder?  (What is a chicken-herder called, anyways?)  I think they stink something fierce, but they make such fantastic noises, surely I could get over the smell??!

Blank Cards

Two weeks ago today I was foolish enough to fall off of an 8' ladder.  Not graceful.  I rattled my brain a bit, and ended up with a Royal Shiner (yes....that needs to be capitalized!), along with a fracture deep in my head and a fractured elbow.  Wow, what an adventure!

Something I've discovered from all this is that there are a lot of people out there who follow their inner voice and ACTUALLY SEND GET WELL CARDS.  It's amazing.  And it's really moving to be on the receiving end!

So I've been thinking about my own....lack of follow-through.  When I'm prompted by the Spirit of God, I need to pay attention!  Since I can't hold a paint brush without a fair amount of pain, I'm working on holding a pen instead...and I'm adding to my stock of blank cards.  It's much easier to actually send a card if I happen to have one on hand!