Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Painting in the open air!


Today I went painting with Bonnie White. Bonnie is a watercolor painter. It was one of those days where the weather cannot decide what to do. We had some sun, some breeze, and lots of clouds. Click below to view Bonnie's Website; http://www.angelfire.com/art/madeinthegorge/bw.html

Bonnie and I like to talk while we paint and we discussed many things. We talked about the length of time it takes to actually make it as a painter, and by make it I mean to have good quality paintings. One of my workshop instructors told us it takes at least ten years. Another said 10,000 paintings must be painted. Bonnie and I both agreed with this. I think that the artists struggle is on going and it will never be easy.

As I get better at painting, then my goal for each painting is much higher. My goal or mission statement is to be the best that I can be in the small amount of time I have left to produce quality paintings as often as possible, and it is not always possible. Today I painted two paintings, one will never ever see the light of day and the other one just might workout, with a little more effort. When painting outside I get more misses than hits, but when I get a hit, or good painting, it is very, very good, IMHO.

3 comments:

Donna T said...

Hi Donna! It's hard to believe that not all of your paintings are successes, but I know that sometimes they just don't work. I like your idea of starting a work as plein air and finishing in the studio. I hate the feeling of having to rush to finish on site. Bonnie does beautiful work! Will you two have a show together someday?

Donna Van Tuyl said...

Thank you for looking Donna T. Yesterday when we started painting this field of flowers was in full sun and then quickly it turned cloudy and my little painting is bland looking. Today I hope to liven it up in the studio.

Bonnie and I show at different locations for the most part, but it would be fun to have show together........great idea!

Rhonda Hurwitz said...

happy to stumble upone the blog of a fellow pastelist. I am amazed at the degree of finish you get with your plein air work. I haven't figured the plein air thing yet...maybe I'm just a studio painter at heart. But I keep trying:) Very nice work!