I’m traveling to Chicago 10/23-25 then NYC 10/16-29, any plein air folks in town then? I’m thinking of hanging out in galleries and museums and bringing a nice, lite watercolor kit–not my typical 50 pounds of plein air oil painting gear!
Maybe I’ll bring my MacBook and post some pics.
Come to think of it, I haven’t been in NYC since 9/11. It’s going to be weird, seeing that skyline without the twin towers. Maybe I’ll come up with a painting at the site…probably not. It must be…I don’t know, certainly not a place to be “exploited”. Is that what we do when we paint a location? We do, don’t we? I guess I’m speaking as (primarily) a plein air artist that typically paints “beautiful” paintings of “beautiful” locations. Sorry if this is…cynical.
If I feel I can capture how I feel at the spot, I’ll capture it as best I can.
I am SO excited to see the painting Moro Marsh. It looks great. I was out painting today and couldn’t get you colors out of my head. I wish I was as free with the colors and pushed them like you did.
Hey…I’ld love to come into NYC and meet you….maybe watch you paint and see you in action. Please advise of when you’ll be here….maybe I’ll bring some plein air stuff for you to show me your style!
Good luck and keep in touch about the painting….
Deb
Hey Deb,
Yes, that would be great. Would love to meet you. Sorry I dind’t bring your painting with me.
I think I’m going to paint either Friday or Saturday, but it depends somewhat on weather. If it’s clear, I’ll head out–I suppose–to Central Park. Would that be a good place to start? I’ve never painted in NYC, so not sure where to go. Any ideas? Also, one caveat, I didn’t bring my oils, just watercolor–and I’m not a watercolorist. I’d still be happy to chat plein air and talk about how I compose/design a painting, choose colors, etc. I guess that would help.
I’m in Chicago until Weds night and in meetings all day Thursday. Can I call you Friday?
Cheers,
-Ed
Hi Ed, I am really interested in your comment there. I think you are right and I think as painters we do exploit what we aim to represent or interpret. But I think that exploitation is probably more positive than negative. Maybe exploitation doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Your other point – about painting “beautiful paintings” of “beautiful locations”, yes, that has bothered me too. I started out looking to paint only young, pretty women with the odd hunky guy thrown in :). However, I went to a local exhibition and an artist had done a very compelling and “beautiful” painting of the dustbin (you call it garbage I think) collection day. A beautiful painting of garbage cans. So I thought I should maybe broaden my outlook a bit. I think whilst we cannot deny being turned on by beautiful scenery and beautiful people we maybe need to concentrate on “beautiful paintings” instead. And when the 2 coincide well that’s fantastic and nothing to be ashamed about. As to your paintings, especially the plein air landscapes I so admire your use of colour, its depth and vibrancy – and variety. It takes courage to use some of the bolder colours in landscapes but you can pull it off time and again.