8 Mistakes I Made at My First Plein Air Event

While I have painted (and taught) plein air for over 7 years,  I hadn't been interested in attending 'Plein Air Events'. I haven't even hung around a 'quick draw' to see what it was like. It just never really appealed to me. Plein air painting has always been hard enough without the added pressure of getting a body of paintings ready to show in 6 or 7 days.

What's that old adage? Never say never? On a whim I sent off some photos to be juried into the Marietta Rivertown's Plein Air Event. I thought it might be fun to see what it was about, and it was only an hour away. I realized I was in trouble midway through the first day. Here are the top 8 mistakes I made, in no particular order.

Didn't bring enough canvas panels 

I had some 9 x 12 panels and a few smaller sizes, but I wish I had brought more variety to choose from. In an unfamiliar area, you never really know what will strike you to paint and I kept thinking that I wish I had a long narrow canvas or a square or anything other than what I had gotten stamped for the week.

Paintings I completed for the week

Should have stayed at the venue

An hour drive is no big deal right? After all, I could sleep in my own bed and I wouldn't have to pack all my supplies in the car. What I had failed to consider was that morning is my peak energy time. I was driving during one of the best lighting situations and by the time I arrived, I felt like I was behind and needed to catch up. After the second day, the drive was aggravating, and it drained my energy.

Didn't plan on being tired

Plein air events are marathons. I don't normally paint more that one painting a day outside and only for a few hours at a time. Many painters at these events paint 2 or 3 or more paintings per day. Performing at that level day after day can be exhausting. I wouldn't have run a 5 k without training first, so why would I think I could spit out 2 or 3 good paintings a day without trying it first?

Worked too small 

My plein air work is usually 8 x 10 or 9 x 12, a size that I can complete in 2 hrs or less. The light changes quickly, and I usually plan to finish the promising starts at home or keep them as studies. I don't normally go out with the intention of finishing a painting in 2 hrs. What I realized at the event was that plein air doesn't mean the painting has to be alla prima (finished in one sitting). I could have gone back to the same spot several days in a row at the same time of day. That's how Monet worked. When it comes to display, larger works often show better and there isn't the visual clutter of lots of small pieces.

Redbud

6 x 6

oil on panel

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Forgot about framing

I really hadn't thought about the paintings needing to be ready to hang until about a week before the event. Normally I have frames around but not in the sizes that I planned to take. By that time I chose my panels, I didn't have time to order ahead.  I visited a local framer and found some sizes I could use, but they wouldn't have been my first choice. Personally I like wider frames, I think they make a painting look more important.

Didn't go go to the get togethers

Part of the fun of these events is making new friends who share a love of painting outdoors. I was so tired by the end of the day that I skipped the meet and greet and I had made prior appointments so couldn't make the show opening. In retrospect I could have napped in my car or just took some time to rest and cleared my schedule to avoid conflicts.

Didn't plan ahead

 I wish I'd gotten out in the field more and tried painting multiple paintings per day before the event or watched some you tubes videos about plein air events. I would have felt more prepared, been less nervous and had more fun. I should have scouted the areas before the first day so that I could have started painting right away and not spent so much time driving to find promising scenes. 

Compared myself to more seasoned event painters

I told myself from the start that I was just there to learn and have fun. However, I admit, it's really hard not to want to see how your work stacks up to to that of your peers.

No matter how emotionally balanced you are in real life, when it comes to the painting process, artists go through a roller coaster of feelings with each painting. There's the excitement of the first few strokes where you just know this is going to be a masterpiece. The act of painting is so much fun, the strokes seem effortless. As least for a while... Inevitably you hit a road block and need to figure out how to paint something you may have never attempted before or perhaps the color just isn't working like you thought it would. Suddenly, your painting is ugly, you suck and you don't know why you even thought you could ever paint what you are looking at. If you keep going, usually you can resolve the problem and turn out a decent painting. Life is good again.

Imagine going through that process 2 or 3 times a day for a week. In the high pressure atmosphere of an event with time constraints and high caliber painters all around you, the roller coaster of emotion climbs higher and dips lower, repeating with every painting. Even if the person next to you is going through the exact same range of emotions, in your mind they have no struggle at all, and you are the only one who can't make the bridge look like it's sitting on the water.

So if you've stuck it out with me this far, you are probably wondering if I would ever do this to myself again.

I have to say....

sign me up!!!

My goal as an artist is to paint more accurately and with more confident brushstrokes. There's always something to learn, a new challenge around every corner. I could see a huge growth in my work from the first day's okay paintings, to the second day's happy dance paintings. The 3rd day was a real disaster, I was tired from day 1 and 2 and didn't get started til noon. I took on a huge challenge and just didn't get back to the spot on subsequent days to finish. After day 3 I seriously wanted to withdraw. I took a day off, got mad at myself and kept going. One of my favorite paintings came from the very last afternoon. 

Cherry Blossoms

12 x 6

oil on canvas

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I hope I have encouraged you to learn from my mistakes and approach your first outdoor painting event with more confidence.  Maybe I'll see you at a future plein air gathering. Be sure to say hi!