Plein Air Painting Adventures in 2023

A fall afternoon painting in Kootenay National Park

Painting with a friend. It is a favourite plein air painting spot to look at the Skimmerhorn Mountains in Creston, BC.

A spring plein air sketchbook painting just off the Devon Trail in Creston, BC.

Painting in my backyard in May.

  

Last year I managed to get to this location when the lilacs were still blooming.

An evening paint out with a friend of across from the popular Tim's Fish and Chips, Creston, BC.

Painting the sweet little motels of Radium, BC

A colour study in a sketchbook really helps before attempting the watercolour painting.

Meeting up with a newly formed  Creston Plein Air Pals  at the Good Company Coffee in Creston, BC for a painting session. 

Why I Love the Skimmerhorn Mountains

Watercolour by Eileen Gidman 
11x14"
Skimmerhorn Mountains #4

The Skimmerhorn Mountains have a commanding presence on one side of the valley where I reside. The clouds curl around their tops, the sunsets bathe them in colour and snow makes the crevice's show beautifully. In the fall, old timers will say, when the first snow stays on the top of them, there will be snow on the valley floor in three weeks. Ohhh... and a ridge walk on the top, in wildflower season, fulfills my soul.  

 Watercolour by Eileen Gidman
11x14'
Skimmerhorn Mountains # 2 

Due to the vertical nature of these mountains they can be quite a challenge to paint. Normally, I paint them on location but these last two weeks I have painted these watercolours from my photographs in the studio. 

Watercolour 'card size' by Eileen Gidman
Skimmerhorn Mountains #1

To warm up, I first painted this small watercolour. A few people have commented they liked this particular shade of blue with the red of the barn. If I recall correctly it is a combination of a Maimeri Blue, 'Bluegreen' colour and a Windsor Newton, 'Cobalt Blue' colour. 

Watercolour by Eileen Gidman
11x14"
Skimmerhorns #3

This farm is so dear, I decided to paint it again but larger and because an artist can move mountains, I did paint another part of the Skimmerhorn Range behind it. 
 

Dye Painted Fabric 'card size' by Eileen Gidman
Skimmerhorn Mountains

The two mediums I work in (watercolour and dyes) often contain similar images and here you see the Skimmerhorns again but on fabric.

One of the Biggest Failures in Fabric Painting I ever had, was this Week

Along with a disappointing fabric painting failure (end of the post), there were some wonderful successes in fabric painting this week.

This panel was first painted lightly then soda-soaked once again and dried. Here I have lightly sketched in some 4 X 6" images (card size) in preparation for the second painting session.

What the same panel looks like two and half hours later. As I am painting with thickened dyes, the colours will be less vibrant once the panel is washed. 

These chickadees, I am so in love with them even before the thread sketching. 

There was this one little piece of linen left at the end of a painting day and I used up all the little bits of mixed colours left-over to create this piece. A blue heron stitched in the right hand corner should look perfect. Linen, I must dye paint it more often!

Watercolour painting.

This was from the first life drawing/painting session in 2022. The pleated skirt was so fun to paint.

THE FAILURE

This panel was painted in 2 x 3" images. Not very often do I veer from using the very best of fabrics for painting with dyes. Mercerized cotton from Dharma Trading is my favorite and is always reliable. However, I found this scrap of light canvas which I soda soaked and painted. Well there is three or so wasted hours as the dye did not make a good chemical bond with the fabric and much of it washed out. It was a very stiff canvas and must have a sizing on it that is not easily washed away. Grrr... Lesson learnt.

Finishing Plein Air Paintings in the Studio

We are having cold weather for about a week and it seemed a good time to finish some paintings that were about 80 % completed on location. I have photos somewhere but decided to work from the paintings only and rely on my memory of the day. 

'The Three Clydesdales'

Watercolour by Eileen Gidman

Of course the Clydesdales captured my interest at Kootenay Meadows Dairy that day I was painting on location. But also the distant fall colours in contrast with the blue spruce trees were stunning. This was my second attempt to try and capture those colours. The other painting I've decided not to finish. Not all paintings turn out and that is to be expected. Purposefully, I left the Skimmerhorns less detailed even though their vertical height is impressive in itself.

'Pleach Plum in Bloom'

Watercolour by Eileen Gidman

This painting was done on a spring day at a paint out session with 3 other artists. My friend invited us to her yard to enjoy the almost wild, peach-plum tree in bloom. Where the figures are, there was another artist painting but I decided to change it to two figures walking their dog, heading right passed that stunning tree. Gosh we live in a beautiful valley.

Watercolour Painting at a Farm

Scheduling a day for painting on location with others has been the best motivator for me to get out regularly. As it is continuous throughout the months when the weather is favorable, your paints are always at the ready and I find you often get out painting at additional times too.

This painting was completed in 2 sessions. Very few adjustments were made to the composition of the scene from what was there. I chose to leave out an additional portion of the roof to the left of the building as it would be distracting. I also moved the sign on the fence from around the corner to being visible in the painting. Most of the lettering is not legible purposefully so as not to distract from the center of interest, the little building. However, the farm's name can just be made out in the painting if one looks carefully. 

I've been painting those mountains, the Skimmerhorns quite regularly for over a year and I try to experiment a little more each time. My next painting (below) is started with a different colour selection. Brown shades on the top portion with shades of green dropped in the wet but drying paint. And an ultramarine blue to the base of the mountains where the many rock slides are. 

The horses were out where I could see them this week so they got into the foreground. There were actually five horses and I know in the painting just below, there are six horses, however horses move around so much that I couldn't say if I have painted each of the horses at least once or rather painted one horse over and over in different positions!

Watercolour Beginning 11 X 14"

Where will I go from here? I know for sure I will be simplifying the foreground so the horses don't get overshadowed with surrounding detail.

Watercolour Started 5 X 7"

This week was the first time painting the horses this year. It is so much fun and so challenging. The sun was shining hard on their velvety black coats so the highlights were very evident. Some paints you can lift back a bit and the black I mixed on this one wasn't easily lifted so before next week I will experiment with some mixes of black colour. That will make defining the lights and darks easier. For the darkest of blacks I applied a layer of indigo on top of the already there black. I am pleased with that technique I just happened to try. 

Could I possibly just leave the mountains depicted with the dry brush technique. For me it is important to experiment so we will see. 

I hope this inspires you to get out painting, sketching or just observing the vistas around you. For instance how many tones of a dark object can you see?