Zion Day 11

I painted from the window this morning, working on an 11x14 panel of a detail of the cliff-face I see each morning. It is progressing but not as quickly as I would like. I am sort of combining the photo of the scene and comparing it to the actual scene outside. It is a good way to see the difference form painting from life and painting from photos. There are pluses and minuses to both.

I went out at 8:15 to get a reference shot, I noticed it yesterday but was too late for what I envisioned. Well as it turns out, I was too early this morning…and it was cold. Well not that cold but 40 and a wind from the north, standing in the shade for an hour a half waiting for the sun to creep down the canyon wall sort of cold.

I got what I was looking for but by that time, the Sistine Chapel wouldn’t have looked good till I warmed up a bit. Time for my new coffee!

  Brrrrrr!

I went down to Leslie’s office and she gave me a vacuum cleaner for the Grotto, which is much better than the broom/dustpan combo I had. One thing about Zion, lots of sand, the whole canyon floor is sand, duh! sandstone cliffs! It dries out very quickly after a rain, but like a beach, sand tends to find its way everywhere.

I actually painted outside this afternoon. I started two 9x12’s with dismal to moderate success, in that order. The first one was basically a scrape it off panel, because there are all kinds of pitfalls when jumping outside to paint. First, I picked too complicated a subject and the light changed very quickly, and since it was complicated, well let’s just say I picked better the second panel.

I chose a scene that the light would stay more consistent and a much simpler subject-matter, allowing me to focus and get something I can value out of the afternoon. I will try to go out tomorrow at the same time and finish it up.

Plein-air painting really forces you to simplify the subject. It takes me a bit to get used to it but I enjoy what is does for my studio paintings. I paint outside for training the eyes, I don’t use them as finished paintings.
     After I have painted plein-air for a bit, I notice my studio painting becomes very easy, and I “see” things better. It’s hard to quantify but it certainly is noticeable.

     
Here is the scene I am painting outside.  along with the painting I started, (my painting is on the right).

   Tomorrow a reporter and photographer from Salt Lake City are coming down to do an interview and a story about the Artist-in-Residence program. They will spend the day with me and see what I do, I hope they like watching paint dry.  Leslie said this blog is partly responsible for catching their attention to do the story, so thank you all for coming along and participating. I need to use the vacuum tonight.