The concept is born
As if it were a moment in a spy novel. I stood feet away from a seasoned professional explaining to me his process. I learned new ideas and concepts that I had not really considered about my new found love, Plein Air Painting. His sage advice included a few concepts I am just now starting to grasp. Plein Air painting is my artist’s culture’s core. This is where I am going to go forward and achieve my artist goals. I already understand the principles behind the art of translating what I see onto a canvas. Rendering a piece to a believable point. So much love for this, that I have been accused of photo-realism. I find some of my art to be a bit on the cartoon side and needs refinement. This type of rendering, Plein Air, has me starting my skills all over as it is usually done in the style of impressionism.
The new type of style
Never has my preference been Impressionism. It’s a style that is so non committal, that it almost made me feel as if the artist was just throwing the paint. Since working in the medium directly, I have come to discover this is not the case. There are elements to this that I am going to have more chances to experience and learn from; but before I even begin discussing those, I really have to address the fact that the studio is a whole animal unto itself. Not to forget the image I am rendering is LIVE. No pressure there. Each blade of grass or individual tree changes as I render it. Very daunting. I am trying to snapshot a moving image. All these elements mix together to create a very exciting method of rendering.
The show
I have experience painting in person, with canvases that were from my imagination or I had already been working on. I began really feeling confidence in those pieces. This style of painting what I am looking at is a new thing to be involved with altogether. I find some of the social techniques I practiced at the grocery stores are already helping me while entering parks and neighborhoods with the intent to paint. Thanking everyone for sharing the view seems to go a long way to being able to use the area as a studio. My professionalism also helps others to feel they can approach me and ask me questions.
The learning of impressionism
I am now discovering Impressionism, learning to draw in what I see, block it all in, and then define. Taking that information I added the need to “squint”. I have to blur the image to allow for that fine detail to disappear. It drives me mad and cuts me loose at the same time. I have to fight the urge to get the image just right. The trick is speed. There is a small window in getting the image just right. About 1 and half hours. Once the image is begun, the scene changes rapidly with the light. And that changes everything. I need to stop focusing on one or two areas and make sure I get the form down to the best of my ability. That takes a moment since I have to adjust the way I look at the scene.
The perspective of impressionism
Right now I believe the change is starting to occur. Impressionism is something I will master. The practice up until this point has really helped to develop an impressionist’s view. The end goal of mine is to be fluid in impressionist Plein Air painting now. I think this is the key to my art’s future. No matter if I am painting in the studio, having a new understanding of light and shadow as well as movement has begun making my art better. Improvement. That is the end game. I want to inspire others. I think this new technique will help make that happen. Hope you enjoyed my writings. If so, please feel free to leave a comment. It would help my website presence out a great deal, and thank you for your time today.
~S.D.