Innholdsfortegnelse for Dec/Jan 2018-19 i PleinAir Magazine

Born to English parents in France, Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) remained something of an outsider his entire life. Although he’s recognized along with friends Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet as one of the crucial figures in Impressionism, he never enjoyed their level of success or recognition. While many of his peers explored urban life and the effects of industrialization in their work, Sisley remained focused on tranquil landscapes. In the summer of 1877, he moved to Sèvres, a suburb of Paris, where he painted a series of views of the town, its quays, and the local bridge over the Seine. Characterized by a fresh, breezy atmosphere, the paintings portray a range of riverside activities. In this case, he’s added a small figure on the bank to draw the eye and add…

Humans evolve slowly. We’ve occupied apartment buildings, office towers, and shopping centers for a tiny fraction of our time on Earth. Thanks to our primitive drives, we are still closely attuned to the cycles, scents, sights, and sounds of nature, which helps explain why so many of us love the outdoors. Jacob Aguiar connects strongly to nature because he spent so much of his boyhood exploring the fields, ponds, and brooks of Eastern Kansas. “The biggest event of the year was the county fair,” he recalls. “My father’s rule was, if it was light out, we couldn’t be inside. That was partially because he worked nights and needed to sleep during the day. But we absolutely lived outdoors. I had two friends who had a pond on their property, and…

Born in Madrid, and now living in Griñón, a small town just south of the city, Pablo Rubén López Sanz has traveled the world capturing scenes in rich, tonal watercolors. I caught up with him recently, in between his trips abroad and local plein air events. He shared his views on the joys and challenges of painting large-scale watercolors outdoors, and the inspiration to be found in a puddle. Kelly Kane: You paint in some of the most iconic cities in the world, but you rarely present the tourist’s perspective. How do you choose your subjects? Pablo Rubén López Sanz: The first thing I do when I arrive in a new place is locate the water. Rivers, ponds, lagoons, and fountains top my list of favorite subjects. If I’m visiting…

Born and raised in Santa Barbara in the 1950s, Dennis Doheny grew up with a wide-eyed admiration of his surroundings, thanks in part to his father, who was a cattle rancher. “He was a cowboy, so we had a lot of Western art,” Doheny says. An appreciation for the land came naturally; a regard for detail and discipline came with his past career in commercial art, which involved a focus on photorealism and technical illustration. The profession sharpened his problem-solving abilities, and his work with Pantone colors gave him a better eye for nuance. Doheny’s passion for art and the outdoors led him to pursue painting full time in 1996. Largely self-taught, he learned about fine art and oil painting mostly through spending time in galleries, good old-fashioned trial and…

When you’re painting outdoors, crowds or figures in a scene won’t always stay put for you. And, if the composition demands it, you may even want to make up figures that were never there. To create believable figures with just a few brushstrokes requires a degree of understanding of human anatomy. Besides my classical art training, I rely on regular life sketching and drawing exercises to keep my skills sharp. Over time, I’ve developed a keen visual memory and the ability to capture figures’ natural movements and gestures, which I can put to use when a painting in the field calls for the human touch.…

Any journey that begins with a safari through the African bush and ends with a visit to one of the world’s Seven Wonders — with time for painting along the way — is bound to offer some choice experiences,” says Fran Wood. “For a dozen adventurous artists (and three non-painting spouses), the African Painting Safari Publisher’s Invitational was just such a trip. “We rendezvoused with our tour guide Angela Morgan in Johannesburg, then boarded a flight to Hoedspruit’s tiny airport, where we were ushered to a bus for a tour of the mountains before being taken to our destination, Kapama Lodge. We barely had time to deposit our luggage before convening for our first safari. Divided between two bush vehicles, with seating in graduated rows (the better for taking photographs),…

For the past 15 years, Plein Air Grand Marais has attracted outdoor painters to Lake Superior’s North Shore. This September, the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota collaborated with Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery to engage painters, visitors, and the local community in a number of new activities, including mini-workshops and self-contained painting stations where all were welcome to give plein air painting a try, not to mention the traditional Hootenanny after the Quick Paint. A good time was had by all, and according to the gallery, the paintings “flew off the walls.” Carl Bretzke took home First Place in the main event for Upper Lot at North House. Awards also went to Bob Upton (Second Place) for Harbor Motif #2, Neil Sherman (Third Place) for Gunflint Greening, and Christopher Copeland (Fourth…

Getting a Sierra pack trip for artists off the ground 14 years ago was an attempt to build community. I wanted to do something fun with artists I’d met at plein air events and whose work I’d admired. I was inspired by Clyde Aspevig’s pack trips in Wyoming, as well as John Singer Sargent’s forays through the Alps a century ago with his companions. And, to be honest, I was afraid of bears! I wasn’t after solitude; I wanted to share a unique experience with other like-minded folks. My co-conspirator, Paul Kratter, agreed to the basic premise but had one stipulation: big granite. This year, we returned to what I consider one of the jewels of the Sierra Nevada, the Lake Ediza basin in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. With time…

I am asked this question a lot by collectors, artists, and people just learning about plein air. The easy answer, of course, is that it’s a landscape painting created on location, though it can also be a figure or still life painted in the outdoor light. Some would even argue that a plein air painting could be done indoors — a view from a window, an interior, or a floral, painted from life. On occasion, the discussion heats up. Some feel adamant that a plein air painting must be 100 percent completed outdoors, on location, in one sitting. They feel it’s wrong to take it indoors and finish it, make corrections, or even just touch it up. One painter told me plein air is a style of painting, characterized by…

More than just a compositional construct, doors, windows, and passageways provide the opportunity to imbue a painting with a sense of mystery. Whether our view is looking out, looking in, or down a corridor, we can’t help but wonder what awaits on the other side. Here, 15 artists present us with 15 unique takes on these familiar yet evocative subjects. “I completed Alan’s Playroom Redux during the 2018 Mountain Maryland Plein Air competition in September,” says Mick McAndrews. “It rained hard the entire week, so I tucked into this barn on the beautiful property of my host family to stay dry for a few hours. I painted a smaller version of the interior in 2017, hence ‘Redux’ in the title. “I told myself then that it would be fun to…

Paper: Arches 140-lb., 39 1/2 x 39 1/2-inch, rough; and Waterford Saunders 140-lb., 23 1/2 x 59-inch, rough (both come in roll form, which the artist cuts to size) Brushes: (all handmade by Escoda) Perla, Nos. 6, 12, and 14 rounds; Aquario, No. 14 round; Último, No. 14 round and Nos. 12 and 15 flat; Versatil, No. 4 rigger; and Clásico, No. 12 flat Watercolors: (Daniel Smith) indigo, French ultramarine, cerulean blue chromium, lavender, cobalt teal blue, opera pink, pyrrol orange, pyrrol scarlet, Hansa yellow, Naples yellow, transparent red oxide, Mars yellow, sepia, buff titanium, titanium white, and wisteria Misc.: “I always carry a portable speaker to listen to music while I paint,” says the artist. Also, to paint as large as he does, he says a strong field easel…

Located in Port Angeles, Washington, Boat Haven harbors vessels that either need repair or simply await their next journey. I saw this lovely old boat on the last day of a plein air event and was immediately inspired by its strong silhouette; rich, rustic color; and position on the dock. It was a gray, quiet Sunday morning, so there wasn’t much activity at the location. While I was setting up, a couple walked by and looked at the front of the boat for a few minutes while chatting, then quickly left. Still, that moment gave me the idea to add some figures to my painting design and thus create a more interesting visual story. Step 1 To accentuate the strong horizontal composition, I started by drawing the boat shape, then…

The Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA) marked a milestone anniversary with 50 invited artists who spent a week painting the town for the 20th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational. A celebration of plein air painting, the invitational carries on the landscape painting legacy that established Laguna Beach as an art colony more than 100 years ago. Founded in 1996 by five passionate plein air painters and advocates — Saim Caglayan, John Cosby, Ken Auster, Jacobus Baas, and Cynthia Britain — LPAPA has grown to over 400 artists spanning the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, and England. The Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational is LPAPA’s flagship event, bringing together all aspects of its mission and service to the community throughout its nine-day run. This year, more…

A couple of chilly days and a surprise downpour during the 5th Annual EnPleinAirTEXAS competition could not dampen the enthusiasm of the 33 resilient artists who, much to the delight of the San Angelo patrons, produced scenes of babbling creeks and streams — rare sights in West Texas. A fair share of beef and barbecue was consumed in the off hours, during a week that also presented attendees with a world-renowned collection of water lilies, tours of historic private ranches, and a Quick Draw held at the San Angelo Roping Fiesta. Kathleen Hudson received the Elta Joyce Murphey Grand Prize Award from judge Kenn Backhaus for Window on West Texas, Second Place went to Charlie Hunter for Milk Barns, Mims Ranch, and Third Place was awarded to Thomas Jefferson Kitts…

One of my happiest discoveries upon moving to the Pensacola, Florida, area was the Gulf Islands National Seashore, where A Soft Light was painted. When my soul craves stillness and relief from the constant noise of life, I know I can always find it in the stark beauty of the white dunes, coastal woods, and quiet marshes of the park. In early winter, when the colors turn to faded golds and grays, a deeper tranquility settles over the land, enclosing everything in a hushed softness. The distant calls of sea birds and ripples on the water provide the only discernible sounds. In the calm, painting becomes like meditation, and the very essence of nature reveals itself in lucid silence.…

Maine oil painter Don Demers sits nearly alone at the top of contemporary maritime art, but recently his work has undergone a fundamental shift in subject matter. In short, he’s gone inland. And while he’s unlikely to ever give up painting marine scenes entirely, this change in focus has freed the artist to paint more landscapes. It started with a small jump from centering on boats — and thus some kind of narrative involving the boat’s situation — to exploring the personality of the sea. “I had colleagues say that I was a better painter than I was allowing myself to be,” Demers says. “Moving to just paint the sea allowed me to change my style a little bit and be more expressive, and also to say more about my…

Step 1 Aguiar uses 400-grit UArt pastel paper dry-mounted on acid-free foamcore or gatorboard. “The wet under-painting would make it buckle a little bit otherwise,” he says. In this case, the artist blocks in the entire composition using pale vermillion from NuPastel, an orange-red color. “In a predominantly cool scene, I like to use that really warm color to complement the blues and greens that will go over it,” he says. Then he begins to use the local color of objects in the scene to start developing the big shapes. Step 2 Next, Aguiar wets the surface with isopropyl alcohol and a size 10 brush. “This melts the pigments in the pastel to create interesting effects,” he says. “It also helps to cover the entire surface — I do this…

Many plein air painters are also studio painters, and while the streams of production may differ, a dialogue exists between the two activities. The speed and decisiveness required to pull off plein air paintings, for instance, can lead to a greater clarity of design and more active brush or palette knife work back in the studio. Tapping into the feelings of being immersed in the landscape can also enable the artist to sustain a sense of excitement when working over a longer period of time indoors. At the same time, knowledge gained in the studio, including experience with layering, manipulating paint, and adding finishing details, can prove invaluable in the field. So it is for Lindsey Kustusch, a California-based painter who finds that her richly layered studio paintings are enlivened…

‘BEST OF’ CATEGORY AWARDS The PleinAir Salon consists of six bimonthly contests, with the First, Second, and Third Place winners of each contest, and the category winners, automatically entered into the annual competition. First prize in the annual competition is $15,000 cash and the publication of the winning image on the cover of PleinAir magazine, along with a feature story. Second Place earns an artist $3,000 and a feature in the expanded digital edition of PleinAir, and Third Place yields $1,500 in cash. Three additional finalists win $500 each. The annual prizes will be presented at the 2019 Plein Air Convention & Expo in San Francisco. Artists also earn cash for the top prizes in the bimonthly contests. First Place winners receive $1,000, with $500 going to Second Place and…

Plein air painters know better than most all that Mother Nature can throw at us. From fast-moving storms and blinding sunlight to winds that pick up out of nowhere, there’s not much they haven’t seen. But for the 74 artists who participated in the 2018 Publisher’s Invitational with Eric Rhoads, it turns out she had yet another trick up her sleeve. Two days before the group arrived for the event billed as “Fall Color Week,” the area was blanketed with snow — the first early snowfall in 100 years. Nothing could dampen the spirits of the merry group, however, and over the next couple of days — with temperatures in the upper 30s and sunny skies — they ventured outside to paint around the ski resort that would be their…

You don’t have to look far to find proof that the plein air movement is thriving. With events across the country, artists, collectors, and enthusiasts have myriad opportunities to indulge in their favorite form of painting. Drawn together by an appreciation of nature, an enthusiasm for the local landscape, and, of course, a love of art, thousands of people gather for plein air events every year. Out of these shared experiences, a sense of community arises — an awareness that all involved have come together to celebrate and contribute to one of today’s most exciting forms of artistic expression: plein air painting. If you’re wondering how you might join in the fun and find your own place in these unique gatherings, we asked a few members of the community to…