I did it! I prepared all of my paintings at home, brought them to Opus Arts on Granville Island in the morning to complete the framing, then had them hung in the window at Vancity Credit Union on Robson and Denman, Vancouver , Canada on Dec 4! The exhibit ends early March. Take a look if you’re in the area. All paintings are for sale. Prices are $250 to $650, framed.
When painting en plein air, it’s probably best to embrace the weather rather than complain about it! I’m sure there are limits to this, but I find being outdoors in the rain much more inspiring than sitting at home wishing it wasn’t so grey out.
I’ve had several inspiring days painting solo or with my group this October and early November. The fall colours are so inspiring!
Oh, wow, it’s been a month since I last posted. How time flies!
Recently, I decided to put my brushes away and just bring a palette knife with me to my plein air painting sessions. It’s sometimes challenging to get the detail of the shapes, but I seem to be figuring it out. I enjoy how immediate this method is. It stops me from belaboring the details, as I don’t have any brushes with me. And that’s what I’m going for- more expressive paintings.
My first attempt was at Van Dusen Gardens, where we had a meetup event with the Vancouver En Plein Air Painters. I found a quiet corner with a hidden bench near the second fountain on Livingstone Lake. Such a beautiful day.
I love how textured the paint gets when applying it with a palette knife.
My second attempt was at the George Pearson Urban Garden one evening in August.
I like how loose and lively this painting turned out.
My third attempt at painting with just a palette knife was at a combined event with the Vancouver Urban Sketchers and the Vancouver Plein Air Painters at Killarney Lake on Bowen Island. What a fun day that was!
I decided to begin with a yellow ochre ground and then start by painting the background. Because I was painting with wet oil paints, I decided to scrape a bit of the background off before applying my two foreground cedar trees.
Learning to make different kinds of marks with the palette knife.
I usually find that a two or three hour session just isn’t quite long enough to complete everything in a painting. It’s always good to step back from a painting and come back to it a bit later. I’d like to go over the whole painting and look for places where I need to add more dark paint to create more depth. Just as I was running out of time on the day of painting this, I added more blue to the lake. nice, but now I’d like to make some of it greener, the way it was, as it’s a reflection of the green hillside along the shore. A bit of tweaking still to do.
Those were three good painting experiences. I’ll tweak this last one a bit, and do more paintings soon.
Over 30 people joined me on Granville Island for one of the Plein Air Painting Adventures hosted by Opus Art Supplies. Many of us painted at Ron Basford Park, while others wandered to other locations on the island to paint or sketch. The weather cooperated and it was a great way to spend the morning.
What a lovely day that was! Sunshine, a pleasant temperature, no rain, a beautiful place with a variety of painting sites to choose from and lovely guest artists!
Just a reminder about the amazing painting holiday to Corfu, Greece that I’m leading in October, if you’re interested, please contact me asap. I’m looking for 6 more people to make this event work for this year. As we need to book the accommodation ahead of time, I’d like to know your interest level as soon as possible, preferably before July. See my page, “Painting Holiday in Corfu” at the top of the website. Thank you!
Painting outdoors at Deer Lake in Burnaby, BC, last Saturday was a delight. It’s such a beautiful location and the weather, though cloudy with a few sprinkles of rain drops, held for our time there. Our group, the Vancouver En Plein Air Painters Meetup, meets once per week, usually on a Sunday, sometimes on a Saturday or midweek. Please join us if you’re in the area!
If you enjoy travel and painting, check out my page, “Painting Holiday in Corfu, 2024”. Beginner painters are welcome!
What a beautiful day of painting in this fabulous location. I’m really enjoying painting outdoors in the company of others with my Vancouver En Plein Air Painting Meetup group!
