Day 39: On the Run

Day 39: On the Run

Painting on the run is not something I recommend, unless you  have no choice of course.That is just what happened while painting this small broccoli patch out in this field lot yesterday.Fall in the Broccoli Patch6×8″Oil on Panel© Kelly Medford, 2012It was a gorgeous fall morning with that soft, blue, shiny light. Finding this patch of broccoli, a patch of farm in the middle of the city, seemed like the perfect way to spend a quiet morning.The sun was behind the clouds so I thought setting up my easel anywhere would do.Wrong!About halfway into the painting the farmer spied me. While he didn’t come marching out into the field, he did begin to shout and shake his fist at me, wondering what on earth I was doing.Clearly I wasn’t raiding his perfect broccoli patch, but surely he couldn’t imagine painting it. I took just the amount of time I needed to cover the canvas and then I got out of there, feeling a little guilty for barging in on the only farmer left here in town.Now the painting isn’t quite finished. And while the farmer began shaking his fist, the sun also emerged from behind the clouds. All of a sudden I was blinded, looking straight into the sun and finished mixing up my colors mostly by memory more than by sight.Plein air painting really isn’t practical, in every sense. The conditions are rarely right, which leaves it up to you, the painter, to make the best of it and adjust to the circumstances.Why on earth do we (I) do this? You may be wondering. Haul our gear out there, stand in all kinds of weather, attempt to get a painting with the light constantly changing and sometimes get chased off? It seems silly, or in extreme cases crazy.But it’s all worth it.Capturing the moment, the light, a time and a place that will never be the same twice is worth every mosquito and ant bite, sunburn and soaking wet. It’s fun, it’s real and it keeps painting alive. Painting on location provides the painter with real observation that cannot be compensated for in the studio. It’s the most important element to my ongoing education that cannot be compromised. Hardcore? Maybe.But it’s fun and infinitely valuable.Now this painting doesn’t fall into the dud category, if anything it’s just not highly finished. The main relationships are there- and if you’re wondering, the broccoli patch is that blue-green triangle in the front left of the canvas.You can see or purchase today’s painting here on the website.See other paintings from the 120 Day Project here.Thank you for you following!Upcoming Workshops:Rome Cityscaping workshops currently open, click here for more detailsArt of the Painted Sketch: August 2013, click here for more information and registration