I'm back from Lorenzo Chavez's plein air workshop. It was a great time for all 10 attendees and we learned so much. A special thanks to our organizer Thaleia. I was one of the lucky ones who got to stay at her cabin. Hopefully, by helping feed the "starving artists" with my lasagna and apple pie, I will be asked to come back!
Painting en plein air is a special challenge. You basically have only two hours because the light changes. Add to that - I decided to only work on the surface our instructor uses - Canson paper - which I normally don't use. All the artists tried it, then went back to their own favorites. But I was stubbornly sticking it out the whole 5 days. So, let me explain that my paintings start out wimpy and get stronger toward the end of the workshop. You really have to push and scrub the pastel into this paper! So much fall-out into the tray!
I haven't done plein air very much, so my paintings are not something I would do anything with. I consider them "field studies", from which I can do a studio painting from that might look great and I'll frame! So, please view my paintings here with a grain of salt! But, I learned some great techniques and lessons to do this kind of painting. If I try to do a little plein air each week - I will probably improve.
If you want to see an accomplished plein air painting - see Lorenzo's website at http://www.lorenzochavez.com/ .
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