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.