Sonoma Plein Air 2010 – Day 2

Stepping Out, 9 x 12 inches, oil on linen

On Tuesday, I woke up early as usual (when I'm at home I usually get up at 5:30am because I have to take my son to school at 6:30am).

I didn't intend to get up early. When I first did one of these plein air events, I was very nervous about whether I could do decent pieces to show and sell ("what if I stood out as the one really crappy artist among these great ones? How humiliating would that be!?) I think it was the Carmel event. On the first day, I got started before dawn and did six paintings. I remember skipping breakfast and lunch, and working until the daylight was gone. Crazy! Did I end up with great pieces? Well no, I had six mediocre ones.

I think my experience is probably not so different from that of many an artist's first big event. These days, I'm not a plein air virgin anymore and although I may churn out an occasional dog, I don't panic. I don't get out at dawn and I certainly don't do six paintings a day!

I did want to sleep in. But unlike home, it was really quiet throughout the night, and moreover, I didn't have my daughter kicking me all night long. It was too peaceful, I guess.

When I woke, I saw that the sky was clear, and I was happy about the prospect of not painting in the rain. I finally got out of the house around 7:30 and headed out. Not to paint, but to get my morning coffee at this great bakery on the Square, Basque Cafe Boulangerie. Ohmygawd do they have the world's best custard!? I saw that they had a custard danish thing, and I had to have one with my coffee. Bill Cone showed up, and we enjoyed our morning coffee for a while longer. Bill is an old pro too, so he was in no hurry either. A good cup of coffee and the world's best custard. It's almost as good as painting, you know?

But painting needed to be done, so I finally got off my butt and got to work. The truth is, while I was sitting at the sidewalk table at the Cafe, I was surveying the shadow angles and patterns cast by the rising sun. You see, one of my goals at this event this year was to not drive so much. The last time I did the Sonoma event, I drove about a thousand miles, all over the county, rubbernecking the whole time. You know how it is when you think there's a better view around the next bend and you just keep driving. Well not this year. I was going to drive very little, and a part of that strategy was to stay in the town square area and paint town things. So that's what I did.

I could have picked any of the East facing storefronts, really. I picked this one because it looked rather nondescript and it wasn't a hip boutique or anything. It looked ordinary and old. That sense of faded memory stirred an emotional response in me. (Just a stir. I didn't start crying or anything...)

If you compare the photo of the storefront with the painting, you can see that I made some changes. The hard cast shadows came and went as the sun moved, so I just painted them when they appeared. There are some color changes and drawing alterations, most notably the lamp post which was out of the picture in actuality. I painted it in. I liked the note of green that it provides in an otherwise very red/orange picture.

The figure provides another saturated note. No, she didn't stand there posing for me. People were just walking by in various dress, and a few went in the building, and few came out. So the figure I painted is a composite of many. That's pretty typical of how I work.

Afternoon Rehearsal, 12 x 9 inches, oil on linen sold

After a fantastic lunch provided by Keith Wicks' wife Terri at the Botanical Gardens (See what I mean by the Sonoma event being the best?) I went back to the town and painted this partial view of the Sebastiani Theatre, an iconic presence in town. I had in mind to do a bigger painting later on in the week, but I wanted to make sure I could pull off the lettering, so I did this smaller painting first. It turns out, the lettering was doable, but a major pain in the right shoulder was the price I would have to pay for it. It has to do with the ergonomics of holding my hand steady for an extended period of time. I would decide wheather to do the bigger piece later.

A bunch of my friends stopped by to say hello ("what're you dooin? paintin?") and Greg LaRock suggested that my figure, who was empty handed, be carrying an accordion. I'd have done it had I been familiar with the instrument, but no, Greg had to settle for a guitar case.

Coffee Date, 9 x 12 inches, oil on linen

Later that afternoon, the quickdraw event took place around the town square. The artists all start a painting at around 5:30, and be done by 7:00. And they must stay within the Town Square area. Needless to say, the time constraint and the abundant spectators put some pressure on us. Some artists really hate it but I don't mind it so much, I think because I'm used to giving demos. I moved my easel about 30 ft from where I was painting the theatre, and painted people enjoying their coffee at my new favorite custard shop.

I really enjoyed my painting day, and was very happy with my efforts. The burger and beer at the end of the day with my tribesmen were the perfect punctuation to a very good day.