Art Adventures - by Patricia Banks©
Published June 2021 in Nanaimo Magazine and Voyager Mag
Published June 2021 in Nanaimo Magazine and Voyager Mag
The month of May greeted us with an assortment of weather: lovely sunshine, lots of rain, and unusually cold winds. Today we enjoyed our first plein air painting event of the season! While the weather was mixed, the threatening rain held off until we had all gone home. What makes a group of artists brave the elements when most of them have comfortable studios? Many reasons to paint outdoors come to mind…
A few of these stand out as excellent opportunities to learn and refine one’s painting skills. Firstly, the opportunity to directly observe the effects of light on a subject is magical. It is the best way I know to translate textbook learning about light, into one’s brush strokes. Cameras provide valuable photo references but can’t complete with the capability of the human eye to interpret the nuances of what one actually sees, especially in relation to colour and value. Secondly, when painting outdoors, the subject matter seems to miraculously expand. There is more to see in a 360 degree world, as endless subject possibilities present themselves. Painting from real life is often unpredictable, stimulating one to focus on new challenges and employ new techniques. Thirdly, painting while social distancing is relatively easy for a small group of artists out in the landscape. Even when painting at the same location, artists are inspired to paint what individually speaks to them. They naturally gravitate physically away from each other. I have yet to see two identical plein air paintings, even when several artists are painting the same scene! The sharing of each artists’ ideas, knowledge, and experiences is enriching, not to mention fun! Why not make the outdoors your painting classroom too!
Good health to all: be kind, creative, and live your best life each day!
Good health to all: be kind, creative, and live your best life each day!
