COVID Plein Air
It's been nearly a month since I blogged, and how much has happened in that one month! We are all under lockdown with strict social distancing rules. In this time, I think not of what I cannot do, but I'm thinking hard of what I can. What challenge can I set myself around these rules, and overcome something I've been scared to try?
One thing comes to mind - plein-airing on my own.
Pushing myself internally excites me. I feel so much power thinking of setting myself a restraint and having the willpower to see it through. I am reborn that way. I know I can do it.
Last week, I reached out to Jane and we went plein-airing in downtown Los Altos. We sat across an intersection from each other, and it made such a difference to me to know that she was there, painting away as well. A passer-by stopped by my chair on the sidewalk and thanked me for being normal.
At the end of that session, I said to Jane, "See you tomorrow, same time!" and suggested a place. We met there the next day. And the next day, we went somewhere else. I've inadvertently become social-distancing paint site coordinator at this time.
Yesterday, it was due to rain, and Jane preferred to paint wisteria in her backyard. I too have wisteria in my backyard, but this was THE TEST. Could I do plein-air on my own?!
I had a place in mind, and set off earlier in the day than the rain forecast. The good thing was that it is close by, otherwise I would have felt the inertia. The good thing also is that I was pretty much already packed up and ready to go. I went to Voyageur and set up in their empty parking lot. I did a sketch that I was pleased with - partly because of the excitement I'm feeling with my new Rotring fountain pen with sepia ink and how it bleeds with a paintbrush (thank you, Bonnie Carver) - and then started my bigger sketch in pencil on watercolor paper.
Plop drip drop.
It started raining. My lovely sepia border around the sketch got some drops and bled. I looked at the sky as if it would tell me how much longer it meant to carry on. The drops got bigger. I stayed put. Then they got more frequent. So I packed up and drove home. In those 5 minutes on the drive home, the sun came out, and there was no rain.
I promptly set up in my backyard, under the said wisteria, to plein-air paint again - using the photo I had taken of Voyageur. I was outdoors to keep the feeling of plein-air, and to get the bright outdoor light. I realized the pictures pn my phone were nothing like the scene I remembered. They were much too dark and all the detail in the dark areas was lost by the camera.
THIS WAS A SECRET TEST AND IT WAS GETTING HARDER!
So I went back, and set up again, and completed my painting. I want to say that with all this back and forth and testing and being by myself, I have overcome my fear of painting alone, and needing someone there as a crutch. We'll find out.
One thing comes to mind - plein-airing on my own.
Pushing myself internally excites me. I feel so much power thinking of setting myself a restraint and having the willpower to see it through. I am reborn that way. I know I can do it.
Last week, I reached out to Jane and we went plein-airing in downtown Los Altos. We sat across an intersection from each other, and it made such a difference to me to know that she was there, painting away as well. A passer-by stopped by my chair on the sidewalk and thanked me for being normal.
At the end of that session, I said to Jane, "See you tomorrow, same time!" and suggested a place. We met there the next day. And the next day, we went somewhere else. I've inadvertently become social-distancing paint site coordinator at this time.
Yesterday, it was due to rain, and Jane preferred to paint wisteria in her backyard. I too have wisteria in my backyard, but this was THE TEST. Could I do plein-air on my own?!
I had a place in mind, and set off earlier in the day than the rain forecast. The good thing was that it is close by, otherwise I would have felt the inertia. The good thing also is that I was pretty much already packed up and ready to go. I went to Voyageur and set up in their empty parking lot. I did a sketch that I was pleased with - partly because of the excitement I'm feeling with my new Rotring fountain pen with sepia ink and how it bleeds with a paintbrush (thank you, Bonnie Carver) - and then started my bigger sketch in pencil on watercolor paper.
Plop drip drop.
It started raining. My lovely sepia border around the sketch got some drops and bled. I looked at the sky as if it would tell me how much longer it meant to carry on. The drops got bigger. I stayed put. Then they got more frequent. So I packed up and drove home. In those 5 minutes on the drive home, the sun came out, and there was no rain.
I promptly set up in my backyard, under the said wisteria, to plein-air paint again - using the photo I had taken of Voyageur. I was outdoors to keep the feeling of plein-air, and to get the bright outdoor light. I realized the pictures pn my phone were nothing like the scene I remembered. They were much too dark and all the detail in the dark areas was lost by the camera.
THIS WAS A SECRET TEST AND IT WAS GETTING HARDER!
So I went back, and set up again, and completed my painting. I want to say that with all this back and forth and testing and being by myself, I have overcome my fear of painting alone, and needing someone there as a crutch. We'll find out.
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