Buenos días, ¿cómo amaneció usted?
Good morning, how did the sun rise upon you?
Can you consider it plein air painting, if you paint through a window? We do. My youngest and I love to greet the day before dawn, and her easel is perfectly positioned to paint the sunrise, next to an east facing window. I switched the light on to take her photo, but we painted in the dim light and quiet of dawn, she at her easel, and I, set up in the windowsill.
This little study sums up the only sparkly things this girl loves.
Painting plein air in the wind is tricky. I finally found a system that worked well….instead of setting up an easel which is apt to flip in a gust of wind, I sat with a little sketch box in my lap and worked on a 5″x7″ pieced of sanded paper securely taped down.
The sky allowed for an interesting study in color this afternoon. Above the dunes it was a bright, rich, almost-cobalt blue; above the water, the same sky looked almost grey compared to the deep blue-green ocean.
I love watching children create work. The ocean was a deep dark cerulean. Beautiful.
This was day one at the beach…30+ mph wind, and COLD. I was freezing in a jacket, and was dry on shore, those are my crazy children playing in the water. I was hoping to plein air paint a bit, perhaps the wind will die down and I will have a chance later in the week.
The children named these waves angry waves.
Look-
Your little fist fits mine
Like the pit in a plum.
One day and one size
These two hands
Will clasp companionably.
Help me, child.
Forgive me when I fail you.
I’m your mother, true,
But in the end
Merely an older equal
Doing her faltering best
For a dear, small friend.
-Carol Lynn Pearson
I love when my day is bookended by observing nature’s light show.
I painted this sunrise plein air, but I set up in a windowsill instead of outside…pastels don’t mix well with snow flurries. The snowstorm to the north erased part of the mountains as I painted.
Quick study complete, now…where are my snow shoes?
Sunrise on Bear Lake. I love the way the snow intensifies the light and colors.
paintandsimple 