Protecting Plein Aire Paintings

Not many artists have a blank checkbook that will allow them to purchase all of the things they would like to have in their plein aire kit.  Having a light weight easel and a nice box to carry one's pastels or oil paints are two necessities that all artists must have to move their studio onsite into the great outdoors. Another item  of course is a decent umbrella to give one shade from hot sun while one works on that new masterpiece. The umbrella also allows one to shade one's painting and be able to see the correct values of your colors on the painting without glare. The one other dilemma most of us face, is a suitable and safe method of transporting our wet paintings or dry pastels safely back home to our studio.

No matter the place, you may choose, the elements can provide a tremendous challenge to your day or hours of painting. Whether it is bright sun, wind, unexpected rain or sudden chill temperatures, it can make one hurriedly pack up and head back to the warmth of your studio. Hopefully this particular day's outing you are not miles from your car, but if you are a considerable distance, will your old method safeguard your painting back to the car in a cloudburst?

Putting away the easel and the pastels is not usually the issue that gives one problems, the main concern on every artist's mind at that juncture is being able to safely transport the painting or paintings one has started back to the car and then get them safely home. Some artists carry an art bag with folders with glassine pages in them to put over the pastel so it will be protected. But even in that situation, if one is walking any distance and the bag that your folder is in is jostling about, your painting could get smudged, or damp from the rain. Therein lies the dilemma we all face,  bringing back our painting or in some cases paintings from the field safely and without any damage.

After considerable research I have found a product called PanelPak that I liked and subsequently purchased two PanelPak units, one that holds a 9" X 12" and one that holds 12" X 16" paintings. When I ordered the product, which comes in a number of standard sizes, I was pleasantly surprised by the workmanship, its light weight and the simplicity of the product. It is a frame that is routed like the back of a picture frame on both sides. It has two pieces of masonite board that act as covers that fit into the routed channel to back your paintings and keep them protected. Each PanelPak will hold two paintings. The panels are secured by two very sturdy rubber bands in a sandwich in which the paintings face each other but are separated by a half- inch of air space.  The units cost less than 25.00 each, which to me is a very good investment.  I have used the PanelPak several times since I bought them in plein air excursions, and have found that I can transport my pre-cut paper in them and of course transport the rough or finish pastels back home safely.

I have supplied a photo of the PanelPak wet panel carrier for you to see how they work. They are not waterproof, but will fit easily in your waterproof bag. You may of course look them up online yourself at www.PanelPak.com, and order them online in whatever sizes you wish. The company is quick to respond to your order and ships them out UPS within a matter of days. I hope you find this product a valuable addition to your plein aire kit.

Twilight at Pismo Lagoon

Pismo has been a getaway place for our family for a number of years. When our children were in their teens we used to go camping at Pismo Dunes RV park or Pismo Dunes State Beach. For the past five years we have had our trailer permanently stored in Pismo, and whenever we want to go down we make a reservation at the Pismo Dunes RV park. It usually takes a six month in advance reservation to make that a week in summer. We try to go down several times a year especially during the hot months.

This past August we had a full week and were joined by our Son Colin and his new wife Maria. They flew out from Virginia to be with us on Cindy's birthday. That was her present this year. Having our son and his wife with us made the week special.  It is a cool respite from summers heat inland, and its beaches are a source of wonder from morning to night. Waking early in the morning and making a fresh pot of coffee always sets the day off the right way. It is usually col and foggy in the early hours, and a perfect time to walk up on the top of the barrier dune and survey the lagoon that is usually filled with both sea birds and marsh dwellers.

It is relaxing to enjoy the antics of the duck's bobbing up and down for breakfast on the bottom of the lagoon, or see pelicans dive down and grab a snack of fresh fish. Shore birds such as the Great White Egret and the Lesser Egret, as well as Blue Herons wade along the marshy sides spearing anything that comes within reach. Cormorants sit on floating logs washed down by winters rains, spreading their wings to dry them in the air. It is a bird sanctuary, a natural wonder of natures bounty for beach lovers and birders to enjoy.

I got up early as I have many times, only this time I took my sketch book along with my cup of coffee, and began drawing some notans for a painting of the lagoon with the somber morning fog. I decided on a painting, and went back to the campsite to break out my pastels. I began that painting while I had the low natural light and also took a few photos so I could have the right lighting in case the weather changed before I finished. I did end up finishing that painting at home sitting on our deck a week later.

Since my Colin and Maria were with us and it was her first time to California, there was not a lot of time to just sit and ponder the beauty and sketch or paint. We did need to show her the area and some of the beautiful places that are so near. I did take quite a few photos though, and one special evening my son and his wife  and I all sat on the top of the dune, overlooking the lagoon, and watched the sun go down. It was a beautiful evening, with wonderful clouds and lots of color. Unfortunately my camera battery died at the time when the sun was providing such a beautiful palette of color. Fortunately my son reminded me I still had a camera in my I-Phone and I took several pictures of the beautiful twilight sunset that dappled the sand and lagoon in pinks, and shades of purple. The light was mesmerizing and very beautiful. I wanted to paint this wonderful scene. I sent them to my Gmail address so I could look at them on my computer.

With family emergencies requiring several trips south and a full calendar of work for my old employer, it was not possible to paint that scene until this month. I selected a piece of Kitty Wallis Belgian sanded paper that was 12" X 18" and taped it to a board and placed it on my easel. I began the painting with a sketch of the lagoon, and then used Prismacolor pastels to block in the different color masses. Once I had that done, I brushed the colored areas with Turpenoid to provide a good base. I followed up with soft pastels from my palette of Rembrands, Sennelier, Winsor and Newton and Great American Art pastels.  The painting gradually came to life on my easel but the lighting in the room I use as a studio is terrible. When I took the painting outside to get a sense of the balance and color, I was disappointed, and not at all happy with the way it looked.  The colors were just not right at all. The warmth was not there.

Today, there was no rain and it was bright and a cool 51 degrees. Since there was a breeze, I decided to put on a warm coat and I took my table top easel outside and put it on the patio table. It was there on the deck in natural light that I finished the painting. The light on this cloudy day allowed me to get the right hues on the sand and capture the reflections in the water. I hope you enjoy the final product which is called, "Twilight on Pismo Lagoon".

A Gift From Gifted Pastel Artist Deborah Secor

Deborah Secor is an amazing accomplished pastel artist. I believe her greatest attribute however; is her strong faith and commitment to her Lord Jesus Christ, whom she credits unabashedly as her personal savior. Her faith is strong, clear and lived daily, shared by and with her husband. 

Perhaps it is her faith that gives Deborah the ability to see beauty so clearly and capture and transmit the beauty to her Wallis sanded paper for others to enjoy. Her strong sense of well being and completeness also makes her a fine teacher. She seems to enjoy sharing her gifts and insights from years of painting with her students. Her reward comes from seeing students become better artists as they soak in her demonstrated techniques to achieve paintings that catch the eye of the viewer.  We are very fortunate to have some outstanding pastel artists who are also amazing teachers. In my book, she is right there with Richard McKinley, Margot Schulzke and Maggie Price in her ability to clearly state how she accomplishes various techniques she has learned over the years through trial and error.

She has no smugness, or snobbery about her work, she is genuine and wants to share her God given gifts and what she has learned through trial and error. A good case in point is the book she has taken a long time to write, "Landscape Painting in Pastels." She is giving it to any who wants to read it free. She has published it on the web at http://landscapesinpastel.blogspot.com/ where it can be read or downloaded by anyone interested in bettering their knowledge of pastel painting.  So much knowledge that goes beyond just knowing how to use pastels, or what process to use, but a greater understanding of how to use color and how too determine the values of that color. Her book is an invaluable resource for any serious artist. I thank her for her generously sharing her talent and knowledge.

Great American Pastels

Since I became enamored with the pastel medium, I have been trying various pastels made in different countries of the world. There are many wonderful old names like Sennelier, Rembrandt, Schminke,Winsor Newton and of course many other brands that artists love and revere. I have quite a few softer pastels  by Rembrandt, Sennelier and Winsor Newton and even a few buttery soft by American pastel maker Terry Ludwig.  I have a full set of Prismacolor hard pastels that I use a lot for under colors but I did not have any Great American Art Works Pastels that I have heard so many positive things about. These wonderful pastels are made in the USA.

Since I am always griping about buying American products, I ordered a small selection of Great American pastels from Jerry's ArtArama.com a  few months ago, and really found them to be soft, and not subject to crumbling like some of my Winsor Newtons. I was very impressed with how smoothly they applied to my Wallis paper with a light stroke. They had one pastel I purchased that said silver and so had to check it out. It really was silver and I have used it on several paintings that required a touch of silver. I wanted to have more of these beauties! They have 468 different colors and are always adding more selections. They also have fun names, like, Church Mouse Grey, Zest, Paris, Atmosphere, Merlot, don't wine, you get the picture.

A few weeks ago I saw a Thunderstorm set on sale by FineArt.com for a low and impossible to refuse price. I have coveted this set for some time and so I ordered them. They came in the mail and I could not wait to use them on a pastel I was working on that had wonderful sky colors. How I wish I had them when I worked on my Desert Storm piece.

Last Saturday, I had attended a demonstration put on by Bob Strohsahl, Head Honcho of Great American Art Works pastel company, at University Art in Sacramento, California.  This was a reserve your seat event, and also the quarterly meeting for the Pastel Society of the West Coast. I had no idea that Bob would brings such a huge selection of wonderful wooden boxed selections of 78 pastels each by so many well known pastel artist like Margo Schultzke, Richard McKinley, Paul Murray, Judith Carducci and others, as well as 60 half stick sets. I think everyone in the room was salivating looking at the many colorful boxes that were saying take me home!

Bob made a delightful and informative presentation about the company and where they purchase many of the minerals used in their pastels. He showed many wonderful color pictures of places we all would love to visit and paint. Margo Schultzke was at that presentation and said that she has been delighted with the pastels and the variety of colors.  One very lucky member won a door prize in a drawing of 78 pastels of a set of his choosing. I know David, you are probably still smiling!  Many of us bought various sets of our choosing at that event because we were given a great price with no shipping charges. I purchased a Richard McKinley selection since I liked the color selection and know I do not have some of the colors in my palette.  I cannot wait to beak them out and incorporate them into my palette and enjoy using them.

I encourage you to buy some and test them out. I am sold on this companies wonderful pastels, and know that I don't need to look anywhere else to find what I want.  The best part is, like the Terry Ludwig Pastels,  they are made right here in America!

Catching Up

I cannot believe how many months have gone by since I posted any blogs. I have been busy and have painted quite a few new pieces. I have also been enjoying trying out under paintings beneath my pastels, and am still experimenting with the effects.

A month ago I had a rather disturbing and life shaking event occur that gave me cause to realize my mortality. It was a Saturday morning and I got up around 7:23 to put our old dog Chica outside. I walked her down the hall and into the kitchen. I usually give her treats in the morning and so I reached into a drawer and pulled out the bag of Duck strips. As I pulled them out and started to open the bag, I had an overwhelming feeling of being very nauseated, and felt terribly weak and disoriented. I realized I could not even open the bag to get the treats out and simply leaned back and slid open the sliding glass door and let Chica outside

The next thing I realized was I was lying on the kitchen floor, my head hurt and two of our kitchen chairs were lying on their sides. I thought, what on earth am I doing on the floor. I set one of the chairs upright and tried to get up and passed out again. The next thin I realized is my wife Cindy is slapping my face and saying stay awake, don't go out, stay with me. She had apparently called my daughter who was out running and told her I had passed out and then called 911.  My daughter made a beeline back home and was home before the ambulance arrived. My wife and daughter helped me into a chair and I felt very disoriented and was perpsiring profusely and shaking. When the paramedics arrived, they took my vital signs and put oxygen on me. They could apparently tell that my heart and was behaving erratically and my blood pressure was way out of wack. I was soon loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Auburn Faith hospital.

I had wonderful care and attention at the hospital and they hooked me up to monitors and did an EKG realizing that I was in a condition called atrial fibrillation, where the heart chambers get off sync and beat erratically depriving ones body of life giving oxygen. That is why I had passed out and become so disoriented. I was admitted into intensive care for a day and a half until the medication the doctors had given me brought my heart back in control, and it began beating normally once again. I was seen by a cardiologist and asked him whether anything I had been doing the day before had contributed to my situation. He said no, not at all. Your heart has performed well for 68 years and just decided it isn't going to continue to beat as it had. From now on, you will just need to take a prescription medication that will keep your heart on track. I remained there overnight for observation and tests and was released after lunch the following day to go home.  The doctor said I could resume my normal routine, but my wife was very concerned and did not want me doing much of anything until we could see the cardiologist we had been referred to.

We had planned on leaving on vacation for Pismo Beach the following day prior to this happening, and my son and his new wife Maria were planning on flying out from Lynchburg, Virginia to join us in Pismo Beach. First thing Monday morning, I called the Cardilologists office and asked if it was possible for them to squeeze me in that day. I explained our situation and they said they would see what they could do. Several hours later I received confirmation that Dr Berte could see us at 3:45 that afternoon. Once I arrived at the doctors office we were ushered into a room and his nurse Diana administered an EKG to let the doctor see how my heart was performing at that moment. When the doctor came in, he reviewed it and said we were free to go to Pismo Beach and he would see me when I got back to wear a monitor for 24 hours and also to take a stress test.   Cindy was concerned but the Doctor allied her fears and we went home to pack.

It was great to be hitting the road early in the morning and we had an uneventful and pleasant drive over Pacheco Pass and on down Highway 101 to Pismo Beach. We got there about an hour and a half after our son and his bride Maria. They had set the trailer up and then gone for a walk on the beach.  Unfortunately our trailer had leaked over the past two years and water had ruined the bedding and blankets and sleeping bags in the trailer. It was a mess to clean up and Cindy went to buy all new bedding and blankets. It was her birthday that day and we celebrated by going to dinner at the Old Port Inn on the pier in Avila Beach. We had a wonderful meal and afterwards went back to the trailer, made up fresh beds with the new linens and went to sleep for a good nights rest. Our week in Pismo was wonderful and relaxing. I started painting a scene of the lagoon in front of the sand dunes while we were there. I finished it this past week. I hope you like this one. It was started on a cool foggy morning and it was a joy to enjoy the solitude and see all of the waterfowl activity in the lagoon. 

Over a week ago I took my stress test and passed it with flying colors. Dr. Berte told me I have no restrictions and can do anything I want. He doesn't need to see me for six months. God is good, and I feel grateful and blessed to be alive to enjoy my family and continue to paint. Life is too short, so don't forget to do the things you really wan to and enjoy each and every day.

Getting Organized - Part II

One is always happy to make some painting sales, because it puts money in the bank for more art products. My goal has been to make sure that I have everything organized and in a place I can get to immediately when I paint in my studio. That being said, I have more work to do to continually improve the studio set up but that will come with time.

I also wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed for plein aire painting, so that when I go out, I have a good set up. Initially I had my full French Easel, with my pastels packed in plastic boxes filled with rice so that they would not break.  Although this method worked for awhile, I found it to be less than desirable over time.  The other thing was, the plastic boxes took all of the space in the French easel drawer and left very little room for stumps, wipes, some pastel pencils and charcoal.

I also decided that

I would follow Richard McKinley's suggestion and make sure that I separated all of my pastels into values in a new Dakota Art portable pastel box that I purchased. This box is well designed, and has memory foam that the pastels rest on, and memory foam on the two wood inserts that fasten over the pastels to keep them from moving when you are traveling. I purchased the smaller box that is 13" X 14" and it holds a huge amount of half stick pastels. This box sits comfortably on the drawer of my French Easel.  My current pastel count is almost 300, with available space for more. That provides me with a varied pallet of both hard and soft pastels that are with me when I am painting outdoors in some beautiful locale. I am no longer frustrated by not having the color I want to use and making do with something that really is not adequate.

The second item I purchased was an umbrella to shade both me and my work when I am outdoors painting plein aire. After reading all the reviews, I bought the Better Brella canopy, and am very pleased with its design, and vented canopy. The great thing is, it will clamp onto a square or round leg and has well engineered clamps. Someone put a great deal of thought into the design of this product. After roasting in the sun a few times, this will be super, plus it will help by providing me shade for my work so I can actually realize the appropriate color I am putting on my paper.

The third item I purchased was some Dakota Art Boards with Wallis paper already mounted on a foam core so they provide a nice sturdy surface for plein aire work. Thanks Dakota Art for providing this great product premounted, it saves me the hassle, and is light and portable. I had purchased some Courfix Boards also for plein aire work, and they too are a good product. Every artist seems to like a different surface to work on and it has a lot to do with their style, their pastel strokes on the paper, the way they have been taught to work or just personal preference.  With all these nice additions to my plein aire kit, one can see I am already to go out this week with my new tools to paint in the high sierras. Happy painting, and do get organized.

Painting Acceptance and Sales

Well this has been a wonderful two week for news of acceptance into shows and painting sales.  Two weeks ago I received my acceptance letter into the Pastels in Light show. This is a juried show that is being put on by the West Coast Pastel Society at The Gallery, 48 Natomas Street in Folsom. I will enter two paintings, one of the wine country called "Kiss of Spring on the Vineyard" and the other " Morning Sun on Monument Valley." This Wednesday I also received my acceptance email from KVIE Television for my painting, "Where Eagles Soar", that I donated as an entry into their juried Art Auction to be held September 19th.  2011. We will receive two tickets for the black tie event, and also a years membership with KVIE Television.

I made the decision a few weeks ago to have new business cards made professionally. I went down to talk to Drew Lord at Printmasters here in Auburn. He was friendly and helpful and said he could make several samples for me on the photos I provided. He said he would call me when the designs were ready then I could choose the one I liked.  Several days later I had terrific samples and chose one with a vertical format of one of my recent wine country paintings. Drew did not flinch when I asked if it was possible to have some the next day for the Artwalk. He said they would be ready at 3:30 PM, and so I was able to go by and pick them up. They were very nicely done and I was pleased would have them for the Auburn Artwalk that evening. While I was at Tsudas in Old Town Auburn I handed out several cards to interested people who liked my work.

Now that I have the cards, I carry them with me, and when I went to the dentist on Tuesday for a teeth cleaning I handed one to my oral surgeon who had just checked my teeth, and said "Doctor Hakima, when you have time check out my new website." To my surprise, she went to her office computer and pulled my site up right away. The next thing I know, she is calling to me, asking me how much this painting or that painting is while I am still in the chair with the hygenist working on my teeth.  Then she said, "Oh, I love this one called Afternoon's glow on the Vineyard, I want this one, how much is it?" I told her the size and the price and said it was matted and framed and she said, oh great, I'll have a check for you tomorrow if you want to bring it to the office." I happily delivered the painting the next day and collected my check. I took it home and copied it, and then took it to the bank and deposited it in my art account.

Today I went by Tsudas to check on my paintings and to see if I needed to replace my business cards and immediately saw that one painting was gone. Alexandra, the owner saw me and said, "Hi Paul, I sold one of your paintings the other day and the buyer used a Mastercard for the purchase. I waited for it to clear, which it did today, so I can pay you since you are here. " I was delighted with this good news, and will have to take a new painting down to Tsudas to replace the vacancy. My art account finally has some cash flow and I can purchase more supplies and some items I have wanted for some time. It is such a good feeling to paint things I love painting and have people purchasing them because they like the finished product. Life really could not get any better.