Colored Pencil - Plein Air Summer

                                                     Sunday Park Plein Air  6" X 12"
                                           Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard

Summer 2014 started with working "En Plein Air" (in the open air) with colored pencil and it's still going strong.  So while my posts have been a little farther apart I have been working on getting my speed up and working in new and various sizes.  2013 and prior I mostly worked in 5 X 7 sized pieces and one 8 X 10 but I had vowed to work a little bigger in plein air this year.  Many other media painters work their plein air just as small but they may get 2 pieces done in the time I work on one.  No matter, it's all in the doing as far as I'm concerned.  The above piece was at a local park here in July  at Brandermill's Sunday Park.  A small park in Chesterfield County, VA.  Quiet during the week and just a perfect spot for working on my speed.  I liked the long format of this board and had previously only worked on my backlit fruit series on it.  See here or here for a sampling of that series.  One of which I don't think I ever placed on the blog is:

                  Backlit Citrus 2  6" X 12"  Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard  SOLD

While I liked the long format for the still lives mentioned, I'm finding I also really like this long format for a larger vista.  So I will be sure to do more plein air pieces on these boards.

The largest piece plein air I have tried was 9" X 12" on a 5 hour session plein air and a few hours at home.  Virginia is blessed with at least one lavender farm in the Blue ridge mountains east of Harrisonburg.  My favorite plein air pal and side kick, Kathy and I ventured out for an overnight in the area on the hunt for plein air sites.  White Oak Lavender Farm was our first stop, day one of the trip.  As a gardener, woman and foodie it's a little distracting at a place like this because you just want to buy up their plants, scented lotions, lavender balsamic vinegar and lavender blueberry jam.  Yes, you heard right lavender balsamic vinegar!  But I digress.....

Although it's a great place in a quaint Shenandoah setting, it's not the quantity of lavender you see in Provence.  But since I was bummed my friends were in France and I was not this would do nicely.  Our hard winter was hard on the lavender and so a little imaginary enhancements were added in the following piece to even out the farm's replacement plantings in some areas.

                                                          Lavender Fields 9" X 12"
                                           Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard

While I think capturing the distant Blue Ridge mountains and more distant rolling fields of the farm went well, most of the work on the foreground field of lavender was completed at home.  Lavender is very hard to capture well, but I did my best.

Did I tell you that working outdoors in a field of lavender is dreamy!  No other word for it d-r-e-a-m-y!   As the breeze on this overcast day blew by, the scent was ethereal, not over powering just light on the wind.  Kind of like the approaching rain heading our way.  It held off until just the end of our session when we could not wait any longer to make our purchases in the farm's gift shop.

I'll add some more plein air work in another post but for now you can see some of what I've been up to.

Powhatan's James River Plein Air - Sticking it out in the Rain!

                                           Powhatan's James River Plein Air Study 8 X 10

Now that summer is half over I thought I had better catch you up on what I have been up to recently besides teaching summer open studio class in my home studio.   The above plein air study was CP painted on Ampersand pastelboard last Wednesday.  My cohort in Plein Air travels, Kathy Scott and I painted at the new Powhatan James River State Park.  She in oil and as usual I worked in CP.  We had planned to get an early start before the impending rain or heat and humidity of the Mid Atlantic set in.  But after a brief walk around we were forced to work under the pavilion on our morning's pieces.  The view was at more of a distance from what I had originally decided to paint so I worked from memory of the view I liked the best, supplemented with short jogs out into the rain to re-familiarize myself with the original view.

The rain of course was not my only challenge today.  You see I had a board from a failed attempt to plein air in my bag which had a slightly rendered image on it already, a statue in a garden surrounded by rocks.  Although it appears in the photo below like a landscape sketch it was really in a vertical format 10"h X 8"w.  After erasing the board as best I could, then turning it into a horizontal, you can see what I was left with in the image below:

Not the best when using a translucent media like colored pencil, but I actually had little hopes for this new piece given the rainy day we were working in and the distant view of my desired composition.  As you can see in the reference photo taken below,  my view from under the pavilion showed little of my original vision.    

But 3 hours later when the rain had stopped and a few faint sun rays came out, we were invaded by a YMCA camp bus of little people ready for a "Nature Talk" by the park rangers.  So we packed up and vowed to return on a sunny day.  I worked for a short while when I arrived home the next day tweaking the far bank and foreground areas.  You can see my statue underpainting is hidden (actually she is under the tree bases and along the front bank of the river).  

Lessons learned:  #1Yes, you can salvage a failed start and cover it in CP just like in other media, on Ampersand that is.  #2 I was proud of Kathy and myself having stayed the course in the rain.  We found a scene stuck with it and worked thru the conditions. #3 I think I captured the atmospheric moisture in the distant shore as still kept  the lighting and shadows of my initial view before rain set in.

Besides being a great friend and CP artist herself Kathy is always ready for an adventure!  Here is Kathy Scott's plein air from our trip: A 10" X 8" oil painting titled: The James River In Powhatan.   More of her work can be seen at her website:  http://kathyscott.fineartstudioonline.com  As you can see Kathy chose to keep the rainy feel of the day with her piece.  Her view was certainly different than my own, but I'm sure you will agree, a lovely calming view of the James.

                                         

Our trip was the second in a series for me of James River views from the central VA area in which I live.  More to come for this series.  Next blog post will continue my plein air travels with CP from this weeks trip to a the Harrisonburg area of VA and more!  

Have a colorful week!  

Gloria

Finally I have my latest piece finished, photographed and up for all to see: Life's Bowl 18 X 18, Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard

Life's Bowl

Colored Pencil on Ampersand Pastelboard

18 x 18

The Rainer Cherries in, and reflected on a this silver cup and the antique silver spoon near it, are kind of a metaphor for the how life is supposed to go.  We all know the phases, "Born with a silver spoon in your mouth" or "Life is a bowl of cherries"  As you all know I love my shiny objects and reflections.  And the pieces I put them into usually go quickly and with a lot of joy.  Don't get me wrong I loved the reference for this piece and the composition but I just became bogged down with life in it's process.  Kind of like life was trying to prove the above noted phrases wrong.  

After the successful art fundraiser which took 15 months to plan in March (I wrote a blog entry about it Last month) and my classes gearing up in early April, I just plain ran out of gas.  And then the dreaded 

.........Cue Ominous Music Here......... "Artist Block"....... hit me!  Smack in the face!  I didn't have time for it.  I hadn't thought it would hit of all people me!  The girl who loves to get out my colorful pencils and play with color.  But it did, it hit hard and as hard as I tried I just couldn't get myself back in line.  Has that ever happened to you?

I tried meditating, relaxing, fiddling with another media (Acrylics).  I tried a short vacation, garden work, you name it and I just couldn't recover.  So what do you do?   You GOOGLE Artist's Block!  Yes, you heard me right, when all else fails in this day and age you google it!  And after reading articles other creative types had written, you tube videos, and the like, I stumbled on an article that said "Artists block is just procrastination,  get over yourself and get going, the only way out is to get to work!"  Well now I'm paraphrasing the article but that was it in a nutshell.  If I thought that bit of information would have gone to my core as it did over the next couple days I would have remembered which article I found it in, so I could give the author credit here.   

So if you google it you too may find that article or my blog entry, and I hope either one helps get you back on track.  

Oh, and since I'm back on track, I'll let you know about my current show where I am one of the four featured colored pencil artists mentioned below.  And if your in the Annapolis area before July 6th stop by and see a great show put on by the CPSA Chapter in Washington DC in the Willow Gallery at Quiet Waters Park, Annapolis, MD May 21st - July 6th.  Reception is June 1st from 2-4 PM.

Colored Pencil Painting "En Plein Air" Article

I am very pleased to announce the above image is the issue my article (Plein Air This Year) for Colored Pencil Magazine - May 2014 edition has been published.  And may be accessed by subscribing to either the Print version or the Ezine version by the following link.   http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/744202

You know working in plein air (painting in the open air) has been documented here in my blog since it's beginning and while I use the skills learned and honed for normal CP work, a few changes have been adapted to what can work en plein air.  I have traveled to Europe, Bermuda, and around the US either on special art trips where the focus has been to work plein air and on family vacations, business trips with my hubby and with other artists working in various media.  As normally the only CP artist I have had to adapt.  And whether you are just travel journaling for vacation or doing a sketch crawl, CP is a great clean media to work in.  I hope you enjoy the article and the magazine as it has many other great CP artists included.

I have ventured out plein air-ing this spring but due to some tough weather outings, getting a finished piece done in the field has not happened.  Many starts and beginnings which you will see in a future post, have happened.  I hope to complete a few when my teaching schedule lightens up.  So stay tuned!

The main reason I have been slightly absent here on the blog is my local art association (Bon Air Artists Assoc.), of which I am president and a co-chair on our fundraising committee, produced our first inaugural exhibit "Artful Healing", a fundraiser to benefit World Pediatric Project (WPP) here at the Jepson Alumni Center at the U of R.  We showcased 63 local Richmond artists exhibiting and selling wonderful artwork of which a portion of sales went to WPP.  Over $42,000 of art was sold during the 1 and a half day event in late March, with the help of Crossroads Art Center.  The artists were thrilled and from the donated portion of sales we raised enough funds to send a travel medical team to one of the South American locations WPP goes, to help heal children.  30-40 medical procedures can be facilitated during one of these trips.  Bon Air Artists Assoc. worked tirelessly on the project for over 15 months and with the first year under our belt, we are looking to 2015 for a second "Artful Healing" to continue our efforts to support this great cause.

As we push thru the April Showers this week I hope all of you will get out there and make some CP art happen, even if it's just a sketch of a future painting idea or a flower from your garden.  

Gloria Callahan