Saturday 13 February 2016

Plein Air Painting - in Florida

Twin Lakes Reflections
11" x 14" - acrylic on canvas
SOLD
One of my goals for the new year was to do some plein air painting this winter while in Florida. I joined a group called Lightchasers: Plein Air Painters of the Suncoast, who meet once a week to paint at a designated spot in Sarasota County. I did this work a few weeks ago on location at Twin Lakes Park. I had never been there before and arrived a bit late, so I just set up in front of the first view that seemed reasonable. (I decided to ignore the signs about alligators in the lakes, but did keep my ears out for sudden splashes.)



Here is the view I settled on. I knew that I had to crop or reduce whatever view I chose, and because the foliage reflected in the water was an interesting compositional shape, and the land was not very distinct in terms of form/shape and value - I focused on what I saw in the water. Though the actual colours of the reflections were quite subtle and wonderful, I was a little creative with the palette but did maintain the sense of temperature and ambiance.  It took me a couple of hours to complete, I heard no splashes, and was quite happy with the result.

On another outing with this group a few weeks ago I saw a plein air demo with Joseph Palmeirio - and it was terrific.  More about plein air later this week - cheers!





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