My Plein Air April Recap (and some Plein Air Philosophy)

I saw the Plein Air April hashtag going around for the first time this year, and thought it would be fun to make an extra effort to get out and do some plein air.

Here I am on Christmas Day in 2020, I made this photo after doing a quick livestream of getting some plein air painting in.

Plein air is, perhaps oddly, one of my favorite things to do. I love it. I’ve done plein air on my birthday and also Christmas Day, both are days where I think about what I would like to do most. Plein air painting also got me through the end of 2020 and 2021. I was incredibly lonely during the lows of the novel coronavirus crisis, and being outdoors and making art was something that was decidedly safe.

A plein air painting I made near a river in El Dorado canyon in 2021

It’s an odd thing to love, because by my own assessment, my plein air paintings are usually not good. I might have a good one that I do, one out of five outings. It’s terrible odds. It’s a highly ineffective way, for me at least, to make pieces that might be good, or that might sell.

But I keep doing it because I enjoy it. I enjoy plein air painting because every time I go out, I learn something new. I love learning, and plein air is a high-intensity way to learn. It’s more likely for me to fail at plein air than succeed, and that’s where the learning comes from.

Even if the plein air painting I make on any given day isn’t good, it’s still the best possible painting I could have made at that moment. When I’m painting en plein air, I find I am doing my absolute best with what I have. Plein air is a way for me to leave it all on the field.

Plein air versus studio time reminds me a bit of how a science experiment can be structured in the world or in a vacuum. The studio is like the vacuum, it’s a resistence-less environment. The plein air environment is like stepping out of the vacuum.

Maybe the thing about plein air is that it pushes me so far out of my comfort zone that I get stronger and faster in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. Beyond the frustration and the gear obsession is the kind of artist growth that can’t really be put to words.

One of my first plein air paintings in April was this one, facing the flatirons from Wonderland Lake. I had a lot of fun making this. It’s small, I think it’s a 5 x 5 claybord painting.

Apparently Claybord is a little unusual to use for oil painting, but I didn’t know that! Gessobord is supposed to be better than Claybord since it is less dry, but I didn’t have any issues with the Claybord

This next painting I was able to make at Chautauqua. It was fun to get out, I went with my baby. This one is also about 5 x 5 inches:

I did a painting on Pearl Street too (photo at the top of this blog, haha)! The tulips on Pearl are a can’t-be-missed kind of situation each year. City paintings are something I’ve never done before. I had a lot of fun. This was a slightly larger painting than the first two, and on plexiglass instead of Claybord. I ended up scratching this painting a bit somehow, which is pretty fair game for plein air, yet very easy to fix eventually!

The next plein air journey I went on in April was to the Red Rocks trail in Boulder, one of my twitter friends went with me and we painted for a while. My baby also went along for the ride. The red rocks are always a fascinating rock formation to paint.

I ended up getting some dirt on this painting, which is pretty typical for plein air, which I will brush off when the painting dries completely.

For the last day of Plein Air April, I went back to Wonderland and painted some hills from a different angle. I ended up liking the painting I made a lot, it’s drying now so I will try to get a photo of it soon. It was pretty toasty out so I packed up relatively quickly after unpacking.

I actually tried an acrylic painting first on this outing, which is the panel that is in the photo above. The acrylic painting I tried was so terrible that I gave up almost immediately and switched back to my usual medium of oil. I think my brain was in oil-paint-mode which doesn’t work well with acrylics!

So that was my Plein Air April! I really enjoyed participating in this hashtag/month/event. The good thing about plein air painting in April is that it has geared me up for a summer of painting, which I am very excited about.

Until next time, thanks for reading!

Sketchbook Confessional: February 2023

The Sketchbook Confessional is a blog where I look at the past month and all the art and creative things I did in that month. Like a backwards to-do list, the Sketchbook Confessional is a ‘done’ list.

In February I reworked some of the drawings I did in 2015, 2016, and 2018, I made them a bit looser and more colorful:

In my original drawings like this, the colors were only blues and whites. It’s been fun to revisit the drawings and redo them.

I added a new piece to this series too:

In February I started a new kind of painting - I am making imaginary landscapes with hikers or backpacker figures in each one. It’s been an adventure to do this. I really like what I am making, with these.

These are painted on clear plexiglass and also color plexiglass. It’s fun to have a color background to effectively work as a built-in underpaint color. Some of the plexiglass colors that I have are very bright or different colors than I would typically use as underpainting colors, so they are a good stretch of my routine.

In February I did a few paintings of Mt. Elbert that I don’t see as finished yet. I will add a couple more touches to these over time.

I added these to this blog to see how they change next month. All I have to say for these is they are super thick paintings and I love them. They will definitely take a bit of time to get done.
I made a few lupine oil paintings also.

The lupine paintings are a fun way for me to get into the swing of things with impasto.

In February I was able to get outside and do a few plein air pieces. I went to Boulder Falls the day before Valentine’s Day and did a few watercolors that I enjoyed making.

I think of romance a lot in February since it’s the month of Valentine’s day and it’s unavoidable, but I also think of February 14 as exactly half of February, most years. I also like that there are so many flowers in the supermarkets because they are green and there’s not much green around in Colorado in February. It’s such a short and cold month, not as dark or cold as January, but still cold. I do like running and skiing in the snow but I don’t mind the idea of beaches and sun.

Running:

I signed up for the Leadville Heavy Half marathon and knocked out a few runs in Leadville in February. I have a long way to go before June. As far as training, what I’m up to is going for hikes or runs whenever I can get childcare for Baby Jewell, or the occasional stroller run. I think the stroller running makes me stronger but who knows. I also don’t want to put Baby Jewell through running in some of the 0 degree weather we’ve had lately.

All in all I’m happy with my mile splits for any given terrain, this spring I will work on driving down the times for my splits at high altitude or over 10000 feet.

Overall I’m feeling 100% and have felt this way for about a month after getting Covid in November. It really did take about 8 weeks before I felt normal or back to where I was after I gave birth.

That’s what I got for February! Until next time, see you, Space Cowboy.

Wonderland Lake September 2023

Here I am with Baby Jewell, my 1.5 month old, getting some painting in! A kind passerby took this photo and sent it to us.

When I think of painting, I think of relaxing. It’s great to get out and just let go. However, I will say that plein air painting is an exercise in chaos management: everything is fine and dandy until the wind comes up and blows dust on the canvas, or when several bees get attracted to the paint colors, or when, suddenly, it rains.

Sometimes I run into animals, or Baby Jewell burps up on my clean shirt, or he needs an impromptu diaper change on the trail. I never know what will happen next! That goes for the artwork, and for the act of getting to a nice painting spot.

There’s so much to prepare regarding bringing the right supplies, and planning for anything and everything. If I plan well and consider tools carefully, almost any kind of chaos can be under control. If I forget a crucial paintbrush or leave behind an outfit change for Baby Jewell, I have an opportunity to learn and do better next time.

Maybe the most important thing I’ve learned in painting plein air with a newborn so far is that the messy process is just as much of a treasure as the painting is once it’s done. The outcome or the painting is (usually) cool, but simply getting outside and going on the journey is an accomplishment. Even if I get dirt in my carefully arranged paints or if I’m only walking for 5 minutes before getting rained on, everything good is in the art of the trip. Each day that I decide to get off my butt and go outside is a good day, and now I get to do this with my best buddy! <3

Like most new parents, I was a little worried about what would happen to my life once I had a baby. Would I still be able to do art? What about my career?

Luckily all of these anxieties have gone away - through taking action, careful planning, and creative thinking, we’ve been able to find harmony together.

I made several paintings I am happy with while at the lake lately, a couple are above. I’ve been using gouache in the Traveler’s Notebook and it’s been going well. While the Traveler’s Notebook paper that I am utilizing right now is meant more for writing than painting, what I do after painting is I flatten the entire book under a couple other books to get any ripples out of each page. If a piece is really good, I consider removing it from the journal to make as it’s own framed piece.

Above is my exciting Art Mom Gear!

Traveler’s Notebook from Two Hands Paperie

iulie watercolors - the best, love these

JMFT Industries mini zip pouch

Himi gouache - within reach pricewise and high quality

Melanzana skirt - get them in Leadville!

Cotopaxi backpack - best colors ever!

A cup from my grandpa’s house

Ergobaby carrier - very comfy for me and Baby Jewell

Huggies - perfecto

You might notice the Himi gouache looks a bit dried out in the photo - it still works great when rewet! And I think it works very well with the iulie watercolors.

I’m very excited about my Art Mom Gear. It’s very heavy and I haven’t put any thought into making a lightweight setup, but that’s ok, I’m used to taking things pretty slow. With Baby Jewell in his carrier and backpack, I carry an extra 25 pounds, and I’m sure this will increase as Baby Jewell gets bigger or if I get some heavier paints or a big sketchbook.

After lifting Baby Jewell all over the place and carrying him across the countryside, I feel very strong. It’s hard to measure exactly how I’ve changed strengthwise before and after giving birth, but I will say that I feel strong, maybe because it has been like I have effectively carried a watermelon around for several months, up and down various stairs and trails. I’m just getting back into running and am taking it slow, running 1.5 miles or so at a time.

More painting on the way! I can’t wait to show what I’ve been up to lately on the trail.

Plein Air at Chautauqua Park in Boulder

After about an hour of hiking and taking the long way around Chautauqua, I was lucky to get to this sunset at a breaking point in the trees right above the park trailhead.