Fair weather painter...

Jul 20, 2013

[gallery type="rectangular" ids="1207,1219,1228,1222,1221,1220"] So we had a couple of weeks away and I was determined that I would make use of the time to do some painting en plein air.  Not something I usually do because of the size of canvas, the difficulty with transporting wet canvases and the fact I like to paint views which tend to only be accessible by foot. All in all I had to think small and portable and so in advance I primed a dozen or so very small canvases with the aim of just strolling out the door one lovely sunny Scottish day and pitching up with my box of paints and being inspired. Well there certainly was inspiration but then I realised I still needed to trek 20-30 mins if not more to get to some where comfortable, nevermind suitable for painting for a couple of hours and then have to bring back one or two wet canvases and a wet palette of paints.  So bear in mind at this point I was stuck on a remote island and had to utilise what was in the cottage.... a wire veg basket, some pegs and a black bin liner later and hey presto I am a portable artist... sans beret of course... only gortex will do for Scotland.IMG-20130508-00583So at this point I was feeling quite smug with myself and trundled off to find myself a nice view with maximum potential for otter spotting.  Well in theory it would have worked but within 30 mins of settling down and mixing the paints the wind got up and then the rain came lashing it down.  I pretended for a while to not be bothered which possibly did involve muttering to myself that I'm from Yorkshire and I've got wellies on.  However it is with great sadness that I have to confess to being a fair weather painter.  You won't be finding me strapping myself to the bows of ships I'm afraid (health and safety and all that!).... Just give me central heating or a real fire and access to tea making facilities. In the end I sat gazing out at the Scottish weather whilst painting from images on the digital camera.  Not quite what I had intended but it was in the end a rather productive couple of weeks.
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