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Studio Plein Air, Alla Prima

This pastel piece is done in the style that I call “studio plein air, alla prima”. For those of us with bad allergies, plein air painting can be somewhat of a challenge. One way of working through it is to paint an image as if you are outside. I know that this is not the same as creating a piece in the outdoors, but it can be an alternative to those of us who are afflicted with severe allergies.

I give myself a couple of hours to work on a piece and I treat it as if the light is changing and I need to get it done quickly. Painting outside is something that I like to do, because the matching colors is much more accurate. However, painting from a photo in the studio has its positives, as well.

Having to remember the stimulation of senses helps me to practice recall. When doing any studio painting, I need to remember to sights, sounds and smells from when I took the pictures that I use as reference and make the appropriate corrections. This helps me when I am creating any painting in the studio. The lack of allergy reaction is a definite plus, as well. Of course I will paint outdoors when I can, but by using creative thinking to come up with a solution for the adverse reaction to the great outdoors, artists have an alternative to painting plein air.

This miniature painting captures the natural curiosity that horses exhibit. On a warm spring morning, the sun was reflecting off of the shiny coats of these well cared for horses. These mares seemed to be showing the newest member of their herd the marvelous sights beyond their reach.

I chose to create this vignette on a really small surface to test my skills at painting in miniature, once again. Years ago, when I was painting with watercolor during the earliest part of my art career, most of my creative endeavors were made in the miniature format. Partly because I didn’t have much money, and partly because I didn’t know how to fill up the great white spaces of the paper, I chose a small format for my watercolor paintings. I knew that I needed a lot of practice, so I cut up my expensive, high-quality watercolor paper into little pieces. This paper was so durable that I could paint on both sides before throwing it away. My family didn’t want me to throw away my work, but I considered my attempts at creating art very feeble when I was first learning and I was embarrassed to keep them.

Thirty years later, I still feel like many of my attempts at creating art are feeble. However, in order to get better at anything, one must practice incessantly. Artists must recognize that not all of their works will be their best work. I don’t upload paintings to my website unless I feel like they have passed the critique test that my husband [my best critic] and I have.

For many years, I had to squeeze in time around working, to paint. I gave up leisure activities that others did in order to find the time to practice. Progress was very slow, and I could have given up, thinking that I wouldn’t get any better. Since I didn’t give up, though, I have gone on to create artwork in many styles using many mediums and supports. That’s who I am… the eclectic artist. The thing is, if your give up, you never will know of what you are capable of creating. And I love learning, so I push myself to always do something new in each painting that I create. That way, I will always feel like a beginner, which will make me keep pushing myself to create my best.