West Hawaii Plein Air Painters - 14.feb.2014

Hot, muggy, damp, grey day downtown by the pier and some painters had to leave early - I spent the time greying and whiting all of my colors - I like the sun better:

Last Week's Session - Leo's Backyard

A Very SKOILY Couple of Days

I've been painting these SKOILS=SKetches in OILS for a while - just some 45 minute quickies - 6x9 on loose canvas for the convenience.  These first two done with the West Hawaii Plein Air Painters on Friday's session at Kealakekua Bay

 Lava Pinnacles - 9x6 - Plein air Skoil

Headlands - 9x6 - Plein air Skoil

 Took Saturday off and painted Kahalu'u on Sunday:

Life Guard Shack - 9x6 - Plein air Skoil

 and this painted from the computer screen while at the Kailua Village Gallery on Monday:

City of Refuge - studio skoil

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Why Plein Air?

The immediate response to that, of course, is "WHY NOT?" and there are a lot more why nots then there are whys, but let's first define terms.  I've worked a few galleries in my time and have always been relieved when approached by a client who knows what plein air means.  Simply it was a term used about the Impressionists' proclivity to paint "outside" and means "in the fresh air" or painting on site, and that opens up a whole bunch of problems that I'll go into in future entries. 

Plein air, for me, consists of totally immersing yourself in the act of painting - without hesitation, almost without thought - listening/smelling/feeling the environment - sand under your feet/sun on your face/breeze in your hair - and painting with abandon until the session is complete.  I have coordinated the West Hawaii Plein Air Painters for the last six or seven years.  We usually paint on Fridays in the morning because the light is better here coming over the mountain in the morning to our backs (face to the Pacific) and gradually clouding over to a glare around 1p.  The encouragement, then, is to paint from 9a to 12:30p and FINISH THE PAINTING!!! An alla prima experience of the best kind.  That's the philosophy of it, the mechanics and logistics of it are a lot more complicated then that - what to take - what to do without - easel?  and on and on - stay tuned and we'll travel along this path together, I've got a lot to say that I've never said so this should be a good journey for both of us.

Aloha nui loa,

richard

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CURSES . . . SKOILED AGAIN ! ! !

Two from last night. This first a memory from a squall I noticed late in the afternoon - unusual because it was done on white canvas:

late afternoon squall - 9x6 - plein air skoil

 Bought some big absurdly fat cooking bananas the other day - paint them today - eat them tomorrow!

red band - 9x6 - plein air skoil

Don't forget the BIG SHOW in Hilo - go support an artist or two.

MaGoon's Skoils

Finally managed to "manage" my time and enthusiasm to produce two fairly quick sketches in oils (skoils) over the course of the West Hawaii Plein Air Painters session yesterday. I like doing the small quick sketches because they give me time to focus on just one aspect of the scene, or the mechanism of painting, and still produce a cohesive painting.  On both of these I used a wedge shaped 1/2" wide flat "Catalyst" brand synthetic - my new best friend and available at the new ARTSHOP - AKAMAI ART SUPPLIES - go visit.

Emphasis here is on transparent water/morning light:

mahai'ula bay - 9x6 - plein air skoil

maui from mahai'ula bay - 9x6 - plein air skoil

From two weeks ago - another WHPAP session at the Old Airport:

little pake hat - 9x6 - plein air skoil

First Annual Big Island Plein Air Painters Show

Some of us from West Hawaii Plein Air Painters made the journey across the newly improved and almost mainland "saddle" the other day to deliver paintings for a HUGE show of art in Hilo's Wailoa Pavillion. the show includes 40 or so Plein Air Artists from all over the island - 12 "Official" members of the WHPAP. here's the flyer and i hope you can make it - the month of January, reception 5p friday:

Have you ever skoiled?

new skoil from a few weeks ago - still working on water this year - 

"kaloko ponds" - 9x6 - plein air skoil

Lavern

Finally photographed some of the paintings i finished last week - will post them later. this one painted with the WHPAP at that little park at the inlet to Honokohau Harbor last Friday. Unearthly color always here first thing in the morning. Caught Lavern on her way into the office - she's bigger then i thought.  - knifed in the rocks on this one:

"Lavern, punching the time clock" - 11x14 - plein air oils

Lavern is the eight foot tiger shark that hangs around the Honokohau small boat marina - she was being hasseled a few weeks ago by some neandrathal kids and made it to YouTube.

Kaloko Ponds 2 - First Stage - Oils

Lately I've been starting pieces by sketching a real rough "road map" of the scene with a brush in cadmium red (long story on how that came about - some other post, maybe) and then start adding viridian green and/or dyoxinine purple and alizarin crimson to start dashing in the darknessess.  My four rules of applying paint are, to work:

1. dark to light
2. thin to thick
3. transparent to opaque
4. big to little

A few weeks ago we went out to Kaloko Ponds and I produced one painting with the first stage done in acrylics, and the first stage of another bigger painting done in oils.

Kaloko Ponds Wall 1 - plein air oils - 8x8

Kaloko Ponds Wall 2 - plein air oils - 11x14

I've been using colored grounds for years, mostly yellow, and the colour de jour is Valspar, Mello Mustard, exterior house paint - good stuff!   The stones in the wall were created by wiping the paint away with a paper towel and you can see the stones and underwater (eventually) stuffs and the short beach in the lower right hand corner.  I've scheduled the group for the ponds tomorrow and will post either the end of stage two, or the final painting when i get it done.

Six Who Passed While the Skoils Boiled

Okok - the title doesn't make sense, but i like the alliteration.  I just can't help sharing these things.  Once again - Skoils are SKetches in OILS - 6x9 on loose canvas.

clouds and clouds - early morning over Hualalai:

keauhou bay

Come paint with me and us - West Hawaii Plein Air Painters every Friday.