May 03, 2013

Spring has finally arrived in Ottawa and I immediately took advantage of a few beautiful days to get out and paint outdoors. Painting out doors, or Plein Air, is very different from painting in the traditional formal studio environment. I find that when I sketch or paint in the studio, I tend to over think the work with the ultimate goal of producing a piece of art. Painting outdoors is about seeing, and quickly and somewhat subconsciously expressing that on a panel. There is no time to intellectualize or concern yourself with the final product. You have to act fast because the light changes by the minute.

One of the things I like most about painting or sketching outdoors is it forces you to take the time and really appreciate where you live. We often take our surroundings totally for granted. Often we forget, or simply do not notice our surroundings because we become so wrapped up in our day to day routine. We don’t take the time to truly see. Painting outdoors allows me be a tourist in my own town - to see it in a completely new light.

Painting outdoors really is a pleasant experience......sometimes. On a warm summer day it can be a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, breeze in your hair with the warmth of the sun on your skin. Then there are those times when you are totally into your zone and the rain kicks up, or the mosquitoes feast on you. And of course there is the winter cold. Once you start painting outdoors though, these minor irritations become less of an issue. I personally love the outdoors so I try to get out and paint as often as I can. You just have to be prepared for the elements. It reminds me of a great marketing tag line used by Mountain Equipment Coop - “There is no bad weather, just bad gear!”

The key to painting outdoors is to pack light. My first forays into plein air, it was a pain because I never knew what to take and I ended up with half my studio. That was fine when I owned a car, but I now head out on my bike which means everything has to fit in a small packsack. It has taken a long time but I have managed to pare down my supplies significantly. Now when I head out I take only what I need.

I typically work in one of four mediums when outdoors - ink, watercolours, acrylics or oils. I decide ahead of time what medium I intend to use and I leave the rest at home. These are the mediums I typically use, but there are all kinds of other materials that artists employ when sketching or painting outdoors such oil pastels, chalk pastels, pencils, charcoal, conte to name a few.

I always carry a small pocket sketchbook and a fountain pen. I personally like the moleskin watercolour sketchbooks. The paper is high quality and takes ink well and are great for watercolour washes. I use my sketchbooks to quickly draw anything I see that I find interesting. I work hard not to be tempted to use a camera, and make mental notes in sketch form. I like the challenge of developing these thumbnails into future paintings. This forces you to truly see, and not simply copy a photograph.

Coffee shops are my favourite places to sketch. They are always entertaining for an artist. The next time you are in a coffee shop, just sit and look at the people - you will be blown away by the cast of characters you will see. The great caricature artists need only frequent their local Starbucks to have endless inspiration!

If I am participating in an Urban SketchCrawl, I will throw a small watercolour kit into my bag. Urban sketching is exactly what it sounds like. You head out and sketch your city, town or environment. I like to sketch in permanent india ink and use a watercolour wash to liven the drawings up. My entire kit can fit in my jacket pocket or knapsack. Buy yourself a small pocket sketchbook, a pen or pencil, a small watercolour kit of 6 colours and you are set to go.

I would say my favourite medium for plein air painting is oil paints. I have always had an affinity to working with oils - they have a buttery texture and you can work them and blend them to create very interesting textures. Oils can be challenging though as they can become very muddy if you work them too hard. I love the challenge of using oils quickly outdoors.

I bought the coolest pochade box for my oils online from a company out of Colorado called Judsen’s Fine Art Supplies. For those that have never heard of a pochade box, it is basically a paint box that opens up, stores your paints and mediums and holds your small canvas or wood panel upright, kind of like an easel. I have a small 5”x7” thumb box that I can hold in one hand or on my lap. I will typically put my paints directly on the built in palette ahead of time (oils stay wet) so I don’t necessarily have to carry a bunch of paint tubes. The kit is so compact that it fits in a small day pack. This particular pochade box allows me to carry two wet oil paintings back to back undamaged. When I paint outdoors I tend to paint small and I like the flexibility of having my paint box with me always, even when I am traveling.

I have recently become very interested in the art of the sketchbook. I really like the idea of creating an actual book of original paintings, probably more so that painting large canvases that you hang on the wall. I guess this comes from my love of travel and wanting to paint on site, and sketchbooks are very portable. If you use a sketchbook when painting, then oils are not the best medium to use because of the drying time. Painting with oils in a sketchbook is fine in the studio where you can let it sit and dry, but painting outdoors poses a bit of a challenge. This is where acrylics come in. I really like the ability to paint in my sketchbooks on site. I prep my sketchbooks in advance by applying gesso to the pages, I often apply a wash of yellow ochre or another light colour to provide a colour base. I prefer this to a blank white page. The beauty of painting with acrylics is that they dry very quickly and you can easily transport your sketchbook. With acrylics you have to carry your tubes of paint with you. Unlike oils, the acrylics dry very quickly so applying to a palette in advance does not work.

So I challenge you to get out there and paint or sketch outdoors! Carry a sketchbook, get on your bike and just go. Take a half hour on your lunch break, sit in a coffee shop or a park and sketch the characters you see. It is not about the final product, it is about exercising a creative muscle. You may even see a few things you never noticed before. The most important thing is to just have fun with it.

Happy Sketching!