Traveling Light Part I - Flying High

Traveling Light
by
Armand Cabrera
Republished with permission

If you can afford it I recommend having a couple of different setups to paint with. I like to paint from 4”x6” up to 36”x48” outdoors. There is no single system that is the perfect easel or Pochade box and that is why I have different equipment for traveling as light as possible. The recent popularity of outdoor painting has made buying equipment more affordable. Whatever your preferred medium whether it is watercolor, pastels or oil painting there are great solutions for your outdoor painting needs There are many fine Pochade systems on the market now to fit your budget.

Part I
Flying High

Painting getaways are a great way to renew the spark of creativity. When I travel to a painting spot for a week to ten days I streamline my painting setup. Flying can be hard on painters with new restrictions. Whenever I can I ship my equipment. Fedex has now partnered with the airports to help ship your luggage because of tightening weight restrictions Or if you have somewhere to send it you can ship your supplies in advance.

As an oil painter carrying solvents on a plane are out of the question. With the new security regulations paints are no longer allowed as part of your carry-on items. For checked luggage I switch to water based oils or watercolors for the trip. A collapsible brush holder works great for cleaning brushes.
I limit the size of my sketches to 12x16 or smaller. I cut a number of pieces of oil primed linen to size and only bring one board to clip or tape my paintings to saving on weight and space.
I place the blank panel in the Pochade box. My collapsible brush holder slides under the panel in my Pochade box.
I roll up my linen and place it in a clear mailing tube. When paintings are finished and dry I roll them up and replace them in the tube.
All my brushes, clips and paints go into the tube also. I do this to make it easy for inspection at the airport.
The mailing tube and Pochade go into a high impact plastic briefcase. A pistol case is perfect for this. You can buy thin rolls of foam rubber to line the inside with to cushion the equipment.

Hazel Valley Overlook Demo

Hazel Valley Overlook Demo
by
Armand Cabrera

This site is on my friend Palmer Smith’s Property. Palmer who is also an artist, is in the process of building a house at this site and this is the view from what will be his front yard. He was gracious enough to let me come out and paint. What attracts me to this scene is the energy of the lush spring growth here and the chance to paint the varied shades of green moving into the distance. I start by quickly laying in the drawing with a large brush. I’ve already decided to leave out the deadfall on the right and continue the grasses and flowers in its place.

I’m not sure which way the sun is going to go so I block in my darks next, locking in the shadow shapes.
Working from the back I lay in my large masses of color and value in the dark and middle ranges. I finish massing in with the lights in the trees

Working all over the painting I build forms and add details.

Right now the sky holes in the trees in the top left are too distracting for me. I want my center of interest toward the center of the painting just behind the road.

The finished painting
Hazel Valley Overlook 20x24 oil on linen
Painting time for this canvas was two hours.

Road side painting

Cold fall days and winter days are no reason not to go out painting, the trick is to stay close to your car and get warm when you can. I have an SUV and it helps a lot when you want to paint on rainy or bitter cold days. I have even set up inside the trunk with the hatch closed and just the hatch window open to look through.

Whatever your method, there are a few safety tips that you should observe:

Shoulders are dangerous places to park. That is especially true when the ground is covered with snow. What looks like a wide shoulder, could actually be a ditch and you could end up stuck... yes I did. Don't ask LOL. Shoulders are also dangerous because of traffic. So unless you can c;early see a wide shoulder where your car is going to be completely off the road with a safe margin, look for another place to park.

I find farm entrances are the best places to park and paint. You can usually drive up to the farm and ask for permission. Very few farmers will reject your request, and I have had a few come down to check out the work in progress with a warm cup of coffee. Basic Canadian hospitality.

More safety tips coming, but for now, here is an 8x10 that I did from a wide shoulder on 5th side Rd and Heritage Rd in Halton early this morning.

Farm Land, Fall, Halton, ON. 8x10, Oil on canvas board.

October 17, Rattlesnake Point, Burlington, 8am

On Saturday October 17, OPAS will resume our paint outs with a trip to Rattlesnake Point.

The Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area has some of the most inspiring scenic viewing found anywhere. Five breathtaking lookouts dot the edge of towering cliffs of Ontario’s striking Niagara Escarpment. With excellent hiking trails, this natural environment park is perfect for that therapeutic walk in the woods during any season. It is also a great place to paint the colours changing below and around.

We will start early to capture the light and feel of the place. Be there by 8am for a group start, or come at your leisure to catch up afterwards. There is a minimal cost to enter the park, but it is well worth it.

How to get there: Follow this map to get to the site. The entrance to the park is just north of Derry Rd on Appleby Line.

From Hwy 401, take Hwy 25 south to Steeles Avenue, head west on Steeles to Appleby Line, drive south on Appleby Line for 3 km

From Q.E.W, take Appleby Line north; 1 km north of Derry Road on top of the escarpment

We have had mixed success this summer with the awful weather we were experiencing. We are hoping that the wonderful fall weather we are having will bring a lot of us out for this event.

On another note, we need more people to get involved around the province. We need members who will be willing to organize locally and lead events in their areas. Can we get some active members to raise their hands and start organizing please? There must be members who love painting plein air enough in Ottawa, Kingston, Peterborough, Niagara, Guelph, London, Berrie, Sud berry, Thunder bay and all points in between. Who will take the lead? Who is committed to this passionate art form enough to start?

EVENING PLEIN AIR AT U of T

For those of you who don't know it, the grounds of the University of Toronto are a great place to paint plein air. Why? Lots of treasured old heritage architecture and great light, and a very peaceful academic feel no matter where you set up. And in any season.
One of my favorites is Convocation Hall. I love the beautiful copper domed roofline and late in the day the low sun hits the ivy on the side of the building at a prominent raking angle design giving a nice warm/ cool color palette.
Also there is the CN tower peeking over it in the background which gives a nice old /new juxtaposition. And the buildings downtown can be added in if you want more.
You'll see it in my picture.
I set up right beside my car and at that time of day(7:30 pm) there's lots of parking in the circle.
Getting the drawing down is tricky as the dome has to look in proportion to the rest of the pillared building and that takes up valuable painting time.
The light is also elusive- moving quickly into the west.
You'll see in my set up I didn't get it all down but enough blocky color notes(I hope) to finish it in my studio.
If it works, I'll post it . If it's a scaper, I'll go back and try again!
Either way it's a great place to paint as we move quietly into the Fall and the huge maples on the campus turn.
Also I find these university paintings tend to sell well as they are recognizable icons in the city.
I sold one (of Convocation Hall) to a Chinese student who was buying it as thankyou gift for her parents back home for paying for her very expensive education in Canada! Is that a nice present or what!

Cheers

(And if you get hungry you can literally leave your set up and pop into the Hart House
cafeteria for a healthy soup and sandwich!)

September 26, 2009 - Awenda Inspired! ©

Sorry for the last minute posting on this one but a new member to our society brought this event to my attention.

September 26, 2009 - Awenda Inspired! ©

The second annual Awenda Inspired! is a partnership between Quest Art School & Gallery and the Friends of Awenda Park. Artists will spend the day in beautiful Awenda Provincial Park, capturing its glory in the media of their choice. Park patrons are welcome to enjoy free art activities, to view art demonstrations and to join the artists at the activity from 3 to 4 p.m. for an informal art show and discussion of the work created during the day. Each participating artist will be invited to exhibit the works produced in an exhibition in the spring of 2010.
An exhibition of work created during Awenda Inspired! 2008 will be on display at the Penetanguishene Centennial Museum & Archives, 13 Burke Street, from May 8 to 26, 2009. Please join us for the closing reception on Sunday, May 24 from 1 to 4 pm.
Artists who are interested in participating in Awenda Inspired! 2009 may download a registration form .

At this late hour, I would suggest that you email or phone them here:

Phone (705) 549 - 5425

Fax (705) 549 - 3794

Email Us

Plein Air vs Photos

Posted by Donald Maier

View Donald Maier's blog

I was looking through some old photos today for some subjects to paint in my studio. As I was doing so, I was so turned off by the dead flat colors in the photos and was thinking about each image in the stack and trying to inspire myself as to how it would look as a painting, with lots of color put into it that I just did not see in the photo themselves. As I thought about it, I remembered how much better some of my paintings turned out that were done by redoing ones done on location. The plein air watercolors usually have much more information than the photos do. I am not talking about detail. The photo obviously has all the detail, except of course in the shadows where the shadows tend to turn black and loose all the subtle colors that the eye can see when your there. The subtle color changes are captured by the plein air painting and then later, in the studio, you can pay more attention to the composition and execution of the piece. I am posting three paintings here.

The first was painted just north of Key West in 2002, as a thunderstorm was passing over. I was driving south and the sunlight had just hit this little yellow bungalow, catching my eye, and made me turn my truck around so I could sit on the tailgate to paint. You can see the rain spots in the gray sky as the rain began again as I was just finishing up the painting. On the horizon was a pinkish light in the sky and to the left of that you could see a dark patch where the rain was coming down still. This image stuck in my mind and the painting was my record of it. I never took a photo of this spot, and usually don't. For some reason, I can't seem to remember to do so. Or maybe I would just rather get my information from the painting. I do shoot lots of photos with the intention to paint from them, but when I do a plein air painting, I don't confuse the issue with a photo.

A few weeks later, I brought out the original watercolor and did a series of studio watercolors from it. I changed the composition and intensified some of the colors and stylized the clouds a bit. This is the one I liked the best from the studio watercolors.

Finally, I decided to use these paintings as inspiration for a large abstracted oil. This is 36"x48". I really think if I had taken a photo of this scene, I would have referred to it and it would have changed the final outcome of the piece. I just sold the large oil this Sunday on an online website.

So obviously, most of the plein air work I do I consider a finished piece. Many people feel that their studio work and their location paintings should be segregated, the later being inferior to the former.This practice goes way back for me. I used to go out sketching when I was 10 to 15 years old and draw houses, trees or boats by the river, then bring them back home and do oil painting from the sketches. Then in high school, I was introduced to watercolor and began adding color to the sketches. As I got better with the watercolor, they became the finished product as I was then doing "plein air painting", although I simply called it painting on location up until just recently. Around one out of every twenty watercolors would become an oil painting. These paintings are extra special to me.

Tomorrow, I will put away my photos and choose a plein air watercolor to use as a color sketch for a large oil painting.