Roadmap Or Hike To a Painting™

Roadmap To A Painting is intended to share insights about my paintings, and the journey I took to create them.  However, I think that sometimes you might also want to know about the process of getting there and how a Plein Air Painter prepares.

So where does it begin?

Many readers may think it begins when the brush touches the canvas.  Yet, in much the same way that creating a great meal does not begin when the fork touches the plate, Plein Air painting involves a process to ensure that the artist is fully prepared well before that first stroke.  As an example, let's start with my painting kits on the ground at Ghost Ranch with famous Chimney Rock in the distance.

Why two easels?

I only use one at a time, but am fortunate to live only an hour drive from this spot, so I brought both kits.  This is to illustrate that my outings to paint are not all by car.  The larger kit, on the left, includes a 12" x 16" pochade box and tripod, along with all of my canvas panels, oil paints, mediums, brushes and brush cleaner, plus a host of other materials to ensure that I can complete multiple paintings.  For Plein Air competitions, the rules typically require that 80% of a painting, to be entered, is completed out doors.  So given hours at a time en plein air, the kit also incudes a spare hat, an umbrella, sun screen, bug spray, water, snacks and a host of other things to ensure comfort while working.  As you can see, it all fits nicely into a big duffle and this is my car kit.  To truly pursue that ultimate vista, however I often need to leave the car behind, or to get on an airplane.  So the kit, on the right above, includes an 8" x 10" pochade box and a lightweight compact tripod plus nearly everything else from the other kit.  Most important, this pack fits easily in an overhead compartment, or under the seat in front of me on the plane.  One gotcha with air travel, is that you can't carry oil paint, mediums and brush cleaning solutions on the plane, so they go into my checked luggage.  To help with random bag checks, Plein Air Magazine created a great, Air Travel Paint Kit Sticker, to put on those materials, informing baggage inspectors about what they are seeing during such a  check. Another option to all of this is to send your kit to the destination by FedEx or UPS.

Ok, you are there... now what?

Everyone approaches the moment of starting to paint in their own way.  While a business executive, I subscribed to the idea of “management by walking around”, today my process is “painting composition by walking around”.  That  means taking some time to do a visual deep dive into the landscape, really think about what drew me to this scene, and explore creating a composition that will evoke those same feelings in the viewer.  So often, painters are worried about light or weather and feel compelled to set up and getting busy letting paint fly.  For me, taking some extra time to prepare makes painting more fun, and I am often much happier with the final work.  I start with a few sketches to get my center of interest and perspective right, then I might do a Notan or explore some color studies.  You might call this the Zen of Plein Air, and it really enriches the experience for me.  

Landscape Travelogue

Ghost Ranch is an amazing part of New Mexico featuring truly breathtaking scenes that stay with you.  Much like Western New Mexico, where the subject of my next Blog shown below was done, the Mesas and rich, colorful, cliff faces are unforgettable.

  Sombra de Los Gigantes

Back to Ghost Ranch however, there is so much to see on the Roadmap to a Painting.  The route starts in Santa Fe heading North on Highway 285.  You pass the famous Santa Fe Opera and will travel through several of the of the Eight Northern Native American Pueblos, with the Sangre de Cristo mountains rising on the right.  When you enter Espanola, Highway 285 jogs to the left and then continues North toward Abiquiu.  This small village is of course the home of the Georgia O'keffe Museum Home Tour, and you can now tour that home.  Please be sure to get reservations if you plan to make that stop.  Just before the turnoff to Georgia O'Keffe's home, on the right, you will pass Bode's General Store & Eaterie, which is a great place to gas up and get a burrito to, eat in, or go.  Heading on to the North you with pass Agiquiu Lake and enter into the red rocks country with huge skies and vistas to view.  Next stop is Ghost Ranch and there is so much to see, as well as camping, some cabins to rent, hiking, painting and plenty of other outdoor activities.  Again be sure to make reservations  before you go, to be sure you get to stay and enjoy all there is to see. Continuing on you can head North to Colorado or back to Santa Fe.  Have fun!