After planning all week to paint outdoors, today's forecast was severe thunder storms with lightning and possible hail. Dawn brought dark foreboding skies and dire warnings from the weather channel. What a disappointment!
Today was to have been an exercise in creating an outdoor painting using favorite artist, Marc Hanson's, basic palette: lemon yellow, permanent red, ultramarine blue, and white. I planned for it all week. The car was packed and ready to go. After all of the anticipation, I couldn't stand the thought of painting indoors. What to do?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I met two other brave artists, Sally Arnold and Beth Stallings, at the appointed place. We quickly decided that staying near our cars was a good idea, just in case we had to grab everything and go.
That decided, we discovered a lovely view across the pond practically right in front of us. Sally even found a post on which to rest her paints after she discovered she'd left her easel at home. Three hours later, we had each made good progress toward completing passable paintings. Do they look like Marc Hanson's paintings? Nope. Beth's painting looks like Beth, my painting looks like me, and Sally's painting looks sort of like Marc Hanson's.
We learned a lot by creating paintings with only a few colors – colors we wouldn't necessarily have used if left to our own devices. We also learned that it's sometimes better to take a chance than to have regrets. It didn't rain, it didn't thunder, and it didn't hail. Although the little painting above got too wet to finish and will never be a masterpiece, I'm glad I spent my morning outdoors with two good friends while learning something new.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Today was to have been an exercise in creating an outdoor painting using favorite artist, Marc Hanson's, basic palette: lemon yellow, permanent red, ultramarine blue, and white. I planned for it all week. The car was packed and ready to go. After all of the anticipation, I couldn't stand the thought of painting indoors. What to do?
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I met two other brave artists, Sally Arnold and Beth Stallings, at the appointed place. We quickly decided that staying near our cars was a good idea, just in case we had to grab everything and go.
That decided, we discovered a lovely view across the pond practically right in front of us. Sally even found a post on which to rest her paints after she discovered she'd left her easel at home. Three hours later, we had each made good progress toward completing passable paintings. Do they look like Marc Hanson's paintings? Nope. Beth's painting looks like Beth, my painting looks like me, and Sally's painting looks sort of like Marc Hanson's.
We learned a lot by creating paintings with only a few colors – colors we wouldn't necessarily have used if left to our own devices. We also learned that it's sometimes better to take a chance than to have regrets. It didn't rain, it didn't thunder, and it didn't hail. Although the little painting above got too wet to finish and will never be a masterpiece, I'm glad I spent my morning outdoors with two good friends while learning something new.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
