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Outdoor painting
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Message
Posted
Yep, I am sure there are several topics somewhere here with tips, but this one is perhaps odd as I have been wondering if anybody yet invented some miniture artist gazebo or tent for artists. We moved back to UK less than year ago and I forgot how hard painting outside is when it is almost always raining! I only managed once to draw in Scotland outside (the weather was so unScottish, even locals were consfused) and can manage some 10 days in all year here in England. I never dared to try and paint :-O! I knew it will rain if I do. In any case, I love how World looks during rain, it is more vibrant and somehow "sharper" (?), so I wondered if anybody has any tricks other than carrying around a flatpack pogoda or something.... Maybe one of them pop up gazebos LOL?
Edited
by EBla
Posted
EB ...Thats why indoor studios were invented. Only the brave or waterproof artists venture outside in British weather. Some artists have started wearing wetsuits but that is taking plein air a bit too far and attracts too many spectators with umbrellas. This is all not applicable to watercolour artists who can only paint in periods when the rain stops or use the the rain to paint in a blobby fashion which is just another way of painting . in heavy rain this can create assisted abstracts so all is not lost.......Syd
Posted
Oh noes, I was affraid something like that would be the answer. I was last year in spring in Kassel (Germany), the Bergpark Wilhemshohe is amazing! We had the biggest hillside park in Europe all to ourselves because it was pouring and there was fog in places. I took the most amazing pics with the cheap digi camera ever (not a great photographer me, I mainly take pics of the dogs) and can not help but sigh everytime when I think what amazing watercolours some talented peeps could do there that day with the lake being bombarded by big raindrops and all those ducks huddling together by the edges under the trees. I never saw the World as beautiful. I was wet, misserable, dogs were wet, misserable, but we still walked the hole huge thing all the way up and back down. There is sculpture muzeum at the bottom of the park too, but had dogs and as mentioned 20 times before, we were soaked :-D. BTW golf raincoat and trousers- best thing ever! I do not play golf
Posted
There are lots of enthusiastic plein air artists around EBla including those intrepid urban sketchers who happily dodge the raindrops, if possible. However, I am not one of them, in fact I think plein air is vastly overrated - sorry folks. You could always stick an umbrella on top of your easel!!
Posted
If you're after a tent - i suggest one of those twist-to-pop-up (and twist to fold down again) tents.
Lidl had them for £39.99, I think, they were good.
So you go out doors, if it looks like 20% chance of rain, keep it nearby, 50% chance = pop it up, tie it down and keep painting outside, already raining = pop it up, face it the way you want, jump inside and paint away..
When you're done, a twist of the wrist and it's back into a pack again -- practise that in the back garden BEFORE you need to do it!
Posted
Quite a few artists paint from the car - not I, because I don't have one; or a tent. I'm no good for plein air these days - and I don't think a tent would help me. What would help is a devoted assistant, as chauffeur and general factotum. But you have to be rich to afford one of those - people won't do it for nothing. Self, self, self.....
I remember making a tent out of an old clothes horse and an army blanket as a youth........ possibly not hugely helpful, as ideas go.
How about a station wagon?
http://www.isleofwightlandscapes.net
http://www.wightpaint.blogspot.co.uk
Posted
I know you are all awaiting my reply with baited breath.
I do enjoy the great out doors but only a muppet would willingly get drenched. So Im pretty careful with my choice of days. you can sit in a car...done that , you can sit under big brollies...done that I've now bought a five quid placky cape from Tate Liverpool to cover me and my belongings ENTIRELY if need be. But only for sudden and unexpected down pours.
As long as its warm and thick knickers help there ,painting out side is great. And we have had some wonderful weather recently...also theres usually a pub or caff to sprint across to. Ha, ha, me sprinting !!!!.
So, you wimpy lot , just choose your moment.
Posted
En-plein-air painting is not for everyone, I of course accept that, but I personally find it far more rewarding once I've made the effort, and yes, it can be an effort at times, to leave the safety and warmth of a studio, not to mention the convenience of working indoors. BUT, in my case, my work has a more spontaneous feel, lively and more exciting (well I think so anyway), and I have received some good feedback on my recent work in oils.
DD's tent idea sounds interesting mind you, not seen these things, but it really is madness to even think about painting outdoors when it is throwing it down, that's not for me. So, to simplify matters and to be more prepared for a quick exit keep everything down to a minimum. Work on a much smaller scale, limit your palette to say five colours max, use a Pochard box and stuff all the kit in it that you will need, and don't spend too long on each piece, I try and complete a work between 15 and 30 minutes, so you are not getting too tied down with detail, but you will or should have something that is useful as reference for perhaps a larger piece in the studio at a later date, and perhaps even a decent painting in its own right, some of my best work was done in minutes rather than labouring for days, it usually shows.
So, to sum up, if you set your stall out in a sensible and organised manner, most of us can at least have something to show for a short painting trip outdoors, even if you do have to dodge the showers and retire to the car for a short while.
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