Plein Air...

We lucked out with the weather and had some absolutely beautiful days. The Plein Air workshop in Cape May, NJ was great. Painting outside was a wonderful experience I formed a different relationship with the outdoors and I am thrilled I did it! Here are some of my pieces on location...

Our first day on location at a beach.

Atlantic City in the distance.

The Cape May Lighthouse.

 

Me at our last location — the doggy beach!

Uhmm... our last stop, the doggy beach was a bit of a distraction for me, I just wanted to watch the pups play and snap their pictures. After taking a few shots I went back and focused...

I learned a lot working en plein air, its pretty incredible — you pick up on the sensitivity of things outside; the sun, the wind, the birds, colors, the subtle sounds, the temperature all things that really connected me with the outdoors. It gave me a greater appreciation for the outdoors and for enjoying that moment – enjoying the present. 

We worked on small size canvas's and worked only a few hours on a painting because of how the scene changed once the sun moved. At first, I was overwhelmed by all that I could see but as I worked I realized working smaller and with limited time helped me sort out what to paint and avoid the little details. The sun was also an issue when setting up - we had to make sure the sun did not hit our canvas or palette directly because it would make it difficult to judge values. Since time was limited we worked with a limited palette (less to carry) and worked wet on wet which was also great – I enjoy working this way so I was comfortable with this technique. 

I took many photos and learned a lot about Cape May, it's really beautiful. I never knew about the Cape May Diamonds at Sunset Beach or about the Atlantus that was really neat to see.

I may go back to these studies one day to finish them using the photos as reference. I'll be sure to share them if I decide to do that!

♥