My Plein Air Journey - part 4a - 2nd morning on the beach

This is English Bay Beach at about 6:45 am. I set up at around 6 am. SOOO beautiful. Quiet, calm, very few people!

I mostly wanted to try and capture the morning sky and water. It's of course always changing as I'm painting. That's okay. I'm just trying to capture as much as possible.

Boy, painting Plein Air is so different than in the studio from a picture! I highly recommend you trying it. You may not be happy with your results but it is an artistic journey.

I plan to do more Plein Air this summer than just painting in my studio. It's an art form all it's own!

(So, I did sell yesterday's piece. She was very happy to have it and I was pleased.)

It is so different this morning. I can also see why you would choose a smaller canvas or board to paint on. If I tried something bigger it would have to involve a non changing subject as the focus. I may try that one at some point in the day or two left on my road trip.

Be prepared to chat with people who stop to watch you

Part of the Plein Air experience is chatting with the one or two people who may stop to see what your are painting. Not everyone will want to talk, mind you, but it is an opportunity to talk about what you are doing, your art in general, or the location. This person may have some interesting history about the place that could add to your painting. Just knowing more about the location can sometimes inspire a fresh perspective for your piece.

Have business cards handy or at the very least print your name and a way to reach you on a piece of paper that you can give out if you are comfortable. When people have a personal chat with the artist I think they are more inclined to follow up with you. They can look at your website, Facebook or Instagram pages. So keep your content current if you are directing people there.