My little plein air adventure was to Camptonville Cemetery which is located right in town. Camptonville history this link will give you some interesting details of the history of this little town. I arrived before the sun hit the cemetery itself, so I painted this truck on the edge overlooking the countryside.
Painting this truck has been a dream of mine for years and I think I need to do a studio painting of it and work on it bringing out the textures because en plein air, I was able to do so much. I wanted to keep the surrounding foliage simple. I could feel myself wanting to go abstract but I held myself back.
Alright wondering why I go to a cemetery and not paint headstones? I arrived too early and I had to wait for the sun to hit the cemetery itself. Finally, I was able to paint a headstone! I planted myself between these two headstones…..interesting…..a Margaret and a Maggie; just like before I painted next to a Margaret just this past week.
My headstone is a bit off, it didn’t help that I had a meat bee trying to take a bite out of me and I was using my painting to swat at him. I can’t blame it all on the bee, I need to be more careful in cutting out my shapes in the future. My drawing was right on (I think) but the painting part, I lost some good edges. A good learning experience. The top of my headstone is off, it makes me laugh but that was when I was fighting the bee.
It was a ho hum painting experience, it didn’t have me on the edge of my seat, I ended up more focused on depicting detail which is alright. I need to learn to go from one spectrum to the other. I am not exactly crazy in love with any of my paintings. I am trying to find the sweet spot of working within my style which is very loose and yet I ended up painting more realistic than I really wanted to. I am trying to find my way.
I tried out my new color, Cobalt Teal Blue in the 3rd painting….I do believe that it is opaque or semi-transparent and it should be used alone as my fellow blogger Debi has mentioned many times. Debi’s Cobalt Teal Blue Wisdom I had to test it out and she is right! I didn’t really mix it but it needs space and strategic planning. I feel that it does not look right in the spot that I used it.
Learning Points:
- Practice out of my comfort zone as often as I can.
- Alternate different approaches, ie: abstract to tight. It keeps my drawing skills in tune and helps to keep my interest level engaged.
- I need to learn to depict grasses better.
Yuba Gold 