Painting in the Wind

The autumn colors and cooler weather make October my favorite month to paint outdoors. Wilde Lake was particularly wild that day of Color Columbia (a plein air event organized by the Columbia Association) but everything else was perfect.

1. I found a relatively sheltered spot. Everything is relative. Wind loves open vistas and so do artists.

2. I usually hold my palette, but clipped it securely to my supplies cart and kept one hand free to grab whatever threatened to blow away. Who knew that alligator clips are vital art supplies?

3. S hooks are also useful art supplies. I weighed down my easel using my art bin full of tubes of paint hung from my easel. Some people use rocks.

4. I turned my easel sideways to the wind and dug the feet into the undergrowth but it still felt like it might take off at any moment so I kept one hand free to hold it steady.

5. I selected a wood panel which doesn't act as much of a sail as canvas would. I kept it relatively small for the same reason.

6. Forget about hats  and umbrellas. They blow away. Tuck in scarves and wear pants, not a skirt. Anything that can flap around will find paint. It's a rule.

7. I had baby wipes, a trash bag, and shop towels handy in case of disaster. The trash bag stayed in my cart instead of clipped to my easel. Trash bags also act like sails.

8. I know its handy to have turps or substititute close to hand but in wind it needs to be secured to something other than the easel or just left on the ground where it cant fall any farther.

9. Bring plenty of change for the cussword jar and try not to use strong language around innocent bystanders.

10. If all else fails, clean up. I wipe off as much as I can if paint hits dirt. Then I scuff loose dirt over what remains so it doesn't get on somebodies shoes.  If paint gets on public seating it's particularly bad, so thats where baby wipes and elbow grease come in.

11. A palette knife and a tweezers are your friends. Almost anything, grass sand, feathers, pine needles, bugs, etc can be removed from a wet painting and might just make it feel more authentic, although I had a friend whose painting ended up face down on her palette. Ugh!

12. If all this feels daunting, you are not alone. It might be fine to just come back another day....but for plein air events rules are rules.

Some of the most interesting and beautiful landscapes are those where the trees are bare and the land is covered with ice and snow and the light is full of reflected rays, unexpected color and interesting contrasts. Plein air painters are often tempted out from their winter homes so record this season where nature sleeps. It can be a rewarding time to observe landscapes and record the wonder of this, the coldest time of year. Weather conditions are always a concern for plein air painters but the key is preparation. I don't paint in active rain or snow and my least favorite is wind but otherwise I venture out in cold weather as long as I'm sure of a spot for my easel. It's all about preparation.

There are particular challenges unique to plein air painting in winter and not all mediums are suited to the conditions. I don't recommend taking watercolor, gouache or acrylic paints out in sub zero temperatures but pastels would probably be fine and a variety of drawing materials could be fun to use. Oil paints work well in the cold and the standard mediums  for oils stay workable even below freezing. 

Choosing a place to paint can be critical in winter.  Park in the sun if you can. That can make a big difference when you get back from painting and are waiting for the car heater to warm up. While the views may be gorgeous from your car on the highway, finding a safe place to park can be a challenge. Roads are plowed before sidewalks or parking lots so it's hard to find a place to park safely away from traffic. Check local parks, churches and businesses to find safe parking. If it's private property, it might be a good idea to explain what you are doing and be sure you welcome. Never park close to active roadways where vehicles might slide out of control. In cities people are quite territorial about parking spots that they have shoveled. You might not be able to get views of rolling vistas, but there can be really lovely views of trees and interesting buildings from parking lots that are quite ordinary at other times of year. Don't forget to check out your own backyard. No parking needed and you have easy access to your warm house for breaks.  If you want to get really close to nature you might want to bring a snow shovel and carve out a spot with a view. 

Set a timer so you don't forget to stop and reevaluate how you feel. Step away from the painting and wiggle toes and move your muscles. Painting can be so absorbing that you can forget self care and thats dangerous. Have a plan to get somewhere warm especially if your car battery dies as they sometimes do in the cold. Maybe a nearby business would let you warm up in an emergency. Worst case have a warm blanket or a mylar sheet in the car. Your phone battery can also die of cold so make sure it is fully charged before you leave the car and keep it in an inside pocket so it works in emergencies. Make sure you have cell phone service and that someone knows where you are. Painting  with a buddy in groups as always has advantages for safety and company. 

Timing is everything and winter days are short but that's OK if you plan accordingly. Have everything ready and make sure you get to your painting location when the light is where you want it whether that is early morning, high noon or dusk. I personally have not attempted winter nocturnes but the temperature drops considerably after sundown. In cold conditions it becomes even more important to paint fast and efficiently. I mix some colors on my palette before I leave the car and make sure I'm well organized with necessities to hand so I'm not wasting precious painting time looking for something I need. Anything that keeps you warm increases the time you have to paint. The ground gets cold in winter even if it's not covered in snow, so a shop mat, a bathroom rug or even a piece of cardboard can keep toes warm and make it easier to find dropped brushes.

Dressing in layers and warm fabrics like fleeces or puffy coats make a big difference. This is no time for fashion statements and if you look like a blimp, nobody cares.  I like puffy vests that don't constrain arm movement and I have an old puffy coat several sizes too big that lets me add layers underneath. A hat and scarf are important since the head and neck with their rich blood supply are particularly sensitive to cold. Wrists and ankles also need extra protection.  I repurpose my husband's old socks by cutting off the tops and making wrist and ankle warmers.  Footwear should be comfortable, non slip, and allow for thick or layered socks. Mittens are warmer than gloves but make it difficult to paint. Some use them for choosing a spot and setting up an easel and then switch to fingerless gloves.  Hand warmers are a boon, so have those in your pocket to warm freezing fingers. If you don't have commercial ones, microwave large potatoes for 6 minutes . Wrap them in aluminum foil and you will have hours of warmth in your pockets. I bring a thermos with coffee, tea or hot chocolate for a comforting warmth although I generally leave them in the car for breaks or to warm me after painting. There is nothing more miserable than the combination of cold and hunger so carry a snack. A granola bar stores well in heat or cold and doesn't get moldy if it gets forgotten in the bottom of an art bag. I use baby wipes to clean paint off my hands before eating.

 Stand or sit in the sun if you can. The disadvantage is blinding light but if you face away from it the sun can keep you painting for extra minutes. Paint fast.  Plein air is all about catching a fleeting impression so forget about details. Using big brushes and small panels can help. Focus on the big shapes and getting the color you want.  Snap a few reference photos in case you need them later to develop the scene but don't depend on them. Photos help with drawing and as reminders of what you saw, but they are terrible for capturing color, or dark and light values.

Be willing to leave if you don't feel safe or need to warm up.  No marks for extreme painting. It's just not worth taking risks with health and safety. Live to paint another day. If all this sounds daunting, try painting  winter scenes from inside your car or house. That way you can use any medium and stay warm. Plein car or home window painting is a great option for anyone who has physical limitations or isn't prepared to face the winter cold.

Happy Winter Painting!

Katherine Farrell

Sheebeenbusy Studio

By this time, I had hoped to be working in my backyard hideaway which has been in the works since last Summer. The design was approved by the county in December but sadly, building has been delayed by… you guessed it, Covid 19. Apparently, windows cannot be delivered with reliability, so they can’t start. So, I continue to paint, wandering from room to room in my house.

I completed the January Strada Easel challenge and posted 31 new paintings of directly observed subjects on Instagram for the month of January. Most are small works on prepared paper. This exercise greatly added to my understanding of reflections on my favorite silvery tray. I learned a lot and it was fun.

 Spring classes at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) have started up, virtually of course, so that will be my focus for the next few weeks. It is nice to have some larger and more complex projects and I will keep you posted as they go on.

I was juried into a virtual show at Winslow Art Center in Washington State. The selected piece is from the Isolation paintings series, completed in Spring of 2020. It was my first landscape from imagination. It’s a virtual show, so you are welcome to visit it online (link) and enjoy the works of all the selected artists.

A surprising honor came when one of my collages was selected for a show of the Collage Artists of America. My piece titled “Redeeming Features” was juried in to this national competition that I entered on a whim. This collage was one of two I made by cutting up canvases from my student work and combining parts I liked. It cut down on stored canvas and let me keep the best moments. (link) Maybe I should do more collages.

Howard County Open (link) is still on display, both virtually or in physical space at Howard County Center for the Arts. My “Lockdown Blues” is included.  It is so nice to participate in exhibitions again. So many were cancelled last year. People are getting creative about safely displaying art and I hope for more opportunities as time goes on. Meanwhile I post most days on Instagram @artdoc2020 and Facebook Katherine Farrell Art.

SheeBeen Busy Studio

January 2021 Newsletter

The company that makes Strada Easels has issued a challenge to artists around the world to post a piece of new observational art every day in January. At the end of the month the remaining artists who did so will be entered in a raffle to win a Strada easel. Since January is a slow month for classes, and a bit cold for outdoor painting adventures, this was just the motivation I needed to keep painting every day. I have been posting the results on Instagram on @artdoc2020 and my public art Facebook page KFarrellArt. Over 800 other artists are doing likewise and they continue to post daily drawings and paintings. I’ve discovered some excellent work as they post but there is no judging and the only qualification is dedication and following the rules.

Here are the first nine studies, not necessarily in the order they were done.  Although they are not “finished,” I think I learned a lot from them and they do have a certain charm.

These are mostly small one day paintings and are done on heavy stock specially prepared paper.  Because I wanted to explore and practice reflections, I made use of a silvery tray to place various objects on. I chose mostly single objects at first but then added others to explore how light bounces from one to another. I used natural light for the daytime studies and ambient available light for the nighttime work.

More than half way through, I’m not running out of subject matter, and it is so much fun that I may continue to do quick studies like this to warm up before tackling more extended paintings. I’m also challenging myself to make do with minimal manipulation of the environment. Instead of spending a long time on setups and lighting, I force myself to put a time limit and just work quickly to choose a composition and get going. This is what I do when painting outdoors, so it’s good practice.

I have been collecting objects with painting in mind for years, but I can’t resist a nice pretty food setup, so many of the subjects come from the grocery store or the cupboard. The tools I use are pretty standard: brushes and palette knife, and I’ve been using a disposable palette which really helps with easy cleanup. Stored in an airtight box in a cold place, most of the paints remain workable for about a week. I mostly start with a quick charcoal sketch and mix my colors based on what I see, and try them out on a piece of spare paper to see how they work together. Then I block in big shapes and develop it as much as I can in the time I have available.

In the middle of this project I took a virtual class that involved a portrait starting with a mud head. Yes, that’s actually a thing, and it’s a great way to loosen up before tackling the task of creating a portrait. So, my daughter who was scrolling on her phone became my model. I used a bigger panel for that one so it’s different from my collection of small still life subjects. Still it counts toward the challenge because it’s done from direct observation and got posted in its place. I called it “Doom scrolling.” I must admit, she is much prettier in real life but I was trying to capture her intense expression in this study. It would take much longer to get a more realistic painting so maybe in the future.

I hang the studies up to dry in the sunroom, as you can see. For now, that’s my temporary studio anyway and I like to make use of the holiday lights which stay up all year because I like them. My new studio is still in the planning stages, but it already has a name Sheebeen Busy and I intend to make it live up to that name. A Sheebeen is the Irish name for a secret source of distilled liquor but mine will have only totally legal magic to offer to those find me at work in my secret hideout. Since it’s a workplace, not a retail space, visits will be by invitation only except for special events. A visitor to my old studio was heard observing “She Been busy” as they looked around my walls and I thought that was an appropriate name to use. I hope to show you around some day and prove that I have indeed been busy.

So that’s what I’m working on this month. It has been a great way to unwind in these turbulent and scary days, and I look forward to showing you this and other work in person when its safe to do so. After all, we have been looking at the same four walls for a long time. Maybe they need some fresh artwork to brighten them up. My new website KFARRELL.FASO.COM has been populated with a large variety of works completed over the years and you can purchase them directly from there. Not all of these new studies are on my website yet, but let me know if any of them catch your eye and I’ll be sure and put them aside for you. You can message me on Facebook or email me at [email protected].

Warm wishes and virtual hugs to you all,

Katherine Farrell

P.S. This one is on hold for a very special fan of my work and will be heading to California when its dry enough to ship.

Dear Molly,

I hear that you are a promising young artist. Your grandmother, Jeanette, asked me for a few tips from a seasoned veteran. Well, as you are not yet ten years old and I’m nearly 73, I guess I’m pretty seasoned and I’m thrilled that you are interested in art. Most of my remarks refer to painting, but many of the same points are true of other forms of art as well.  I made lots of mistakes along the way and so will you, but the important thing is to learn from them and move on. Don’t beat yourself up. Just figure out what went well and what went badly and chalk it up to experience. Someone once told me it takes miles of canvas to make a masterpiece. Sorry if this letter got a bit long but maybe it takes miles of typing to pass on a few tips.

Make art all the time, not just when you think you have spare time. Time fills up with all kinds of other priorities, so unless you fit art into your life regularly, it becomes like a language learned long ago but not spoken, and you will strain to find fluency again. Even if it’s just doodling in the margins of a math book or keeping an art journal without lines in it, keep doing art. I used to draw cartoons of lecturers during boring talks. Improvise if you don’t have art materials close to hand. I’ve used leftover tea or coffee as paint when nothing else was handy and a ballpoint pen can be terrific if brushes and paints are not practical.

Don’t expect everything you do to be amazing. If you do, you will get frustrated and spend too much time on details that really don’t matter. Its okay to have just one thing that you like about a piece of your work. Its okay to have work destined for the recycling bin or the trash can. Enjoy the process of making art and don’t get hung up on making perfection. It’s all good because you are getting better and better.

Nurture your talent with excellent teachers. Art is not inborn. Talent is a skill learned by following an educational path with dedication and will. After you learn the principles and practice them until they become automatic, a magical world opens up to you, the world of color and light and transformation of materials into stories never told before. Drawing, painting, sculpting and making music all require study and practice. The best teachers will open the tools of the trade for you and show you how to express yourself. Don’t just have one teacher. They each have insights to convey and ways to help you learn.

Beauty can be found in unexpected places so look for interesting subjects. It can be a corner of a basement or a majestic landscape. The face of an old person can be more interesting than a perfectly angelic child. A twisted tree can be a better subject than a perfectly cone shaped Christmas pine. A piece of cake can be as beautiful as a vase of flowers.

 Pay attention to the shapes and edges of shadows and how light behaves. An apple beside a shiny cup will be reflected in it and vice versa and if you find those tiny reflections people will gasp at how real your paintings and drawings look. Watch how shadows are sharper and darker in bright light, softer and subtler on cloudy days. Notice how the edges of shadows are dark and sharp near a form and get softer as they get farther away.

There are no lines around shapes in nature. When we start with lines around shapes the result is like a coloring book. The shapes are recognizable, like illustrations, but don’t look real. Instead, notice the shapes of spots of color, the light and dark areas, and how they relate to each other. It’s okay to start with a drawing but don’t get precious about it and don’t feel you have to color inside the lines.

Paint what you see, not what you know is there. Observation is key to rendering things that look impossible, like glass or water. Trust your eyes more than photos. Photos don’t capture everything and can fool you. Use them only as reference points. A photo is flat and you won’t see into the shadows or see how light bounces between forms in a photo. The camera only has one eye. You have two.

Unless you have a good reason to sit, paint standing up. That way you can step back often to see your work from a distance and you can engage your whole arm in making marks. That way your brushstrokes will have more energy and it’s much easier to draw. Arrange your easel so your non-dominant arm is facing your subject and you don’t have to peer around your hard-working painting arm.

Hold a paintbrush loosely like you would hold a fishing rod, not a quill pen. Use the biggest brushes you can manage first to get the big shapes in. Only at the end do you reach for the detail brushes and make sure you only get details where they count. Not every leaf on a tree or petal on a flower needs to be painted separately. Details draw the eye so only use them where you want the eye to go.

Practice using a limited palette. One red, one blue, one yellow and white can make an amazing variety of colors. Switch them from time to time. Maybe a stronger red, or a paler yellow or a warmer version of blue. Then mix all the colors in between to make a color wheel and label it so you remember what you used. Limiting your palette ensures a unified color scheme throughout your painting and is more pleasing to the eye than a confusing variety of color. So, you don’t need a huge number of paints to get started.

Art is like a language and like a language it is a two-way conversation, so read about the masters, go to museums and galleries and even follow artists you admire on social media. Read the words of artists who became famous. The letters of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo are a good example. See how artists express themselves and learn from them.

If you find a piece of art that holds you, take time to study it. See if you can tell how and why it caught your eye. Step back and see it from a distance to see what it is. Step nearer to see how it was done. Try copying master paintings. Your copies might not please you but you will learn a lot while you are trying.

We all love praise, but constructive criticism from someone knowledgeable is really valuable. So, don’t cry when a piece you worked hard on gets suggestions from a teacher that make you squirm. Remember you can’t be an expert right away. Learning goes on and on, and the purpose of expert criticism is to make you better, not to tell you that you are a genius.  My best work emerged from criticism that was sometimes hard to hear. Your family will always love your work because they love you, but to be really fluent in the language of art, you must hear both about the strengths and the weaknesses in your work. Learn to criticize your own work as you make it, but make sure your inner critic is constructive and encouraging and finds the strengths as well as weaknesses. If your inner critic is overly negative, tell it to be quiet.

If you hit a dry spell and need a break, use that time to learn in other ways. Find books like “The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri that you can dip into for inspiration and encouragement. Watch an art related movie like “The Agony and the Ecstasy.” Take a video art class, or take a museum trip, even just a virtual one. But don’t stay away from art too long. Its amazing how fast skills get rusty and need a tune up. Try to spend a few minutes every day doing something to make your art better. If you do feel rusty do a few quick exercises to get you back in tune. Maybe a 20-minute study of a simple subject done just as a practice piece will get your spirit flowing again. Maybe mixing colors to make a color wheel can inspire you, or maybe going back to only black and white can get your eye seeing light better.

If you want to practice portraits, start with anyone who will hold a pose. Maybe a family member watching TV or reading will be patient for you, but if nobody else is available look in the mirror. You are your own best model. Dress in a costume or wear a hat. It makes you less self-conscious. Give yourself some distance and a clear light source hitting just one side of you. You don’t need to show every eyelash. Just the big shapes of light and shade tell most of the story.

Respect your best work, and learn from the rest. Not everything deserves a frame but almost everything looks better in a frame. I keep a few empty frames in standard sizes around so I can try them on pieces that I’m not sure about. Sometimes they sing once framed. Sometimes I notice that they are not terrific and they go back in the experience pile in the basement. I generally sign only what I consider my best work, and sometimes only sign on the back if a signature is going to spoil the look of a piece.

My best advice is to love the journey and not be too focused on the destination. Art is the language of the human soul, a language spoken all over the world and in every age. You may just learn a few words, become a good conversationalist, or become a poet. Art is a way to connect with others and a form of meditation in solitude. I love that you are embarking on this journey and wish you as much joy as it has brought me.

With much Love,

Your cousin,

Katherine

How lucky we were to have just got back from two sweet trips when the pandemic locked us all in our bubbles. My husband and I had visited the Harvard Art Museum with a friend who had moved to Boston last year. This was followed by a weekend in Mystic Connecticut where we caught the outstanding JMW Turner exhibition. A couple of weeks on we got to Chicago for a conference he attended while I wandered around the art museums there. The news of Coronavirus was starting to break, and from then on it was one cancellation after another. My open studies classes at MICA were cancelled and so were all our travel plans for the year.  

Amazingly, everyone including myself, adjusted to new realities and my classes moved online during the summer. Even as a tech impaired boomer I became familiar with Zoom and even learned how to photograph my work, air-drop it from the phone to the computer and load my homework assignments into the right folder.  I kept on making art and taking classes even as my rented studio became essentially off limits. The easel moved from room to room as I painted still life, interior scenes and even a few portraits of my household members. The trees and shrubs I could see from my windows called out to me and the arrival of flowers and a gift of toilet paper made interesting subjects. Painting was my antidote to isolation.

But it was plein aire (outdoor painting) that made life finally feel normal and hopeful again. At first it seemed impossible that we could have an online class on outdoor painting but after downloading zoom to my phone that miracle actually happened and I was painting in Ellicott City and zooming back and forth with my painting buddies and our instructor who had easels set up in Baltimore parks and alleys or in their own backyards.  On a rainy evening, I painted from our garage with my daughter’s van parked outside making interesting reflections, then on a mild spring day it was on to a little pond in our neighborhood. I started a portrait of our house that probably will never see the light of day and tackled a few other projects in nearby places with classmates and buddies with social distancing and mask wearing. My Fall classes have ended, but privately taught workshops have continued to be blessed with clement weather so fingers crossed for a few more before winter closes in. I’m not bothered by cold but wind and rain are unpleasant so I draw the line there.

 So, as the season for outdoor painting draws to a close it will be back to moving my easel around the house until this crisis ends. I took the opportunity to build myself an art website in the last few weeks and I regard it as a new window on the world. I hope to find new ways of connecting safely and helping my art business to thrive.

I hope you will follow along on this adventure.

Katherine Farrell

Katherine Farrell 

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February 21st, 2019 - 08:27 PM

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I always travel with my oil painting supplies but finding a good place to paint in a new place can be challenging. There is usually no shortage of scenery and Key West had lots of natural beauty, but if you paint from direct observation, you have to find a spot where you can set up safely and not be in anyones way. If you are traveling by car, a safe place to park must be found, and if you walk from your hotel it must be close enough to lug all your equipment, oh and it helps to be within reasonable distance of toilet facilities. So I was excited to find a spot near our hotel in Key West that met all these requirements with a gorgeous view of the sea and a smattering of distant boats. The day was perfect too. There was almost no wind, and the small clouds cast shadows that looked violet over the turquoise sea. I was ready with my already loaded pallette and a small canvas previously primed with some faint pink acrylic paint.

My husband helped carry some of my supplies before he left me to my painting and then he departed to do some sightseeing with our travel companions. He carefully checked my chosen spot. Not too busy, not too isolated. Not too near traffic but not really remote. He made sure I could actually carry everything back on my own.

I spent a while sketching and deciding on what composition I wanted and then picked out the big shapes with vine charcoal. I wanted to try out a new medium I had brought with me as a substitute for the usual medium I use (a mix of turpenoid, linseed oil and a touch of Damar varnish). That can be a problem for oil painters who travel since some of the components are prohibited on planes.I usually look for mineral spirits when I get to a new location but it can be hard to find, and I hate to leave almost full containers behind when its time to fly home. Instead I brought a synthetic gel medium and lots of brushes since I would not be able to clean them properly as I painted. It worked beautifully and I was actually able to clean most of the brushes fairly well with paper towels in the field and later used soap and water to clean them before packing them away.

After a few blissful hours in the zone, I had captured the scene to my satisfaction, when I had a visitor. A young man asked if he could see my work and was excited to see I had painted his boats as part of the scene. He made me an offer and I agreed on a sale. He got a bargain because I discounted it considerably since I wouldn't have to carry it home wet, frame it or find a place to show it and there was no commission due to anyone. I was happy to find someone who loved it and was willing to buy it there and then.

He took a selfie with me and the painting and I gave him my card. He arranged to meet me next morning in the hotel lobby and texted me later in the afternoon to say his wife loved the photo of the painting too. Next morning he was right on time with the cash in an envelope. He was happy because he liked my choices, especially that I included his boats. It was my first time selling a wet painting straight off the easel. I suggested he wait a month before framing it and off he went.

This experience really brought together for me my reasons for painting, The joy of the process has been my main motivation but the knowledge that it spoke to someone and brought them joy too is, for me, like a kind of completion. Painting seems to me like a language that it has been my privilege to learn. Its so nice to know its not a one way conversation.