Dappled Each Thursday morning from May through September the Olympia Art League has a group of artists that paint out together at various sites around Olympia. Most Thursdays... weather permitting.... you will find me painting en plein aire (in open air) with this group. We paint around town, at private gardens, parks, nurseries, and various other venues and enjoy gentle critiques from each other at the close of our session . It is a great experience, and we watch each others skills grow from year to year, even from week to week.
These paint outs have definitely been good for my growth as an artist. I find I usually struggle the first week or two, but then get back into the rhythm as the summer progresses. Not long ago we visited Lattins Cider Mill and I set my easel up to paint a group of trees and their cast shadows. I wanted to capture the light through the leaves and the beauty of their dappled shade. Three short hours later I walked away with one of my favorite paint out successes. Just days before this session I had read an article from master pastelist Richard McKinley about changing values in small increments and not adding strong contrasts too soon. I kept this in mind as I developed my painting.....moving from middle values to darker and lighter in small increments. "Dappled Shade" is the resulting painting, and I feel very satisfied with the days efforts.
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