In the Spirit of Competition
Every year I participate in numerous plein air painting competitions. Why? Good question, sometimes I wonder too.While they can have their down sides (the stress of completing a painting in one day!) they are a fabulous way to learn a ton in a short period of time and to really push yourself to make the most finished painting to the best of your ability in one go.
Via di Valle Perna, Decima Malafede50×60 cmOil on Linen©Kelly Medfordclick here for purchase informationHere below is my set up early on in the day. As I’m sure you will agree, the place was gorgeous and more than ideal for the plein air painter.The competition was part of an initiative organized by the national parks and brought artists together of all mediums for a day to portray the natural beauty of the place. Wow!
Now, I always trick myself by NEVER asking myself the question, “is this too difficult to paint”? Often times the answer would be yes! So I find something that I just have to paint and get started. It also helps when you can just picture the painting in your mind and see exactly how the composition should be. Worry about getting there in the moment while you’re working. What I learned painting yesterday was invaluable and something I’m always having to work with to improve: greens. Greens can be the bane of some painter’s existence. In fact one student in my last watercolor course after spending an entire morning working on painting greens stated that she was going to stick to still life and architecture and just forget this green business all together. Ha! I can relate.Instead, green is possible and wonderful too. Green can bring us comfort and pleasure and lets us relax and be taken to another place if done right. Not an easy feat.I think of mixing greens like this: keep it simple! I only use 2 yellows, 2 blues, an orange and 2 reds. Green always needs lots of red (and grays too). Sometimes my students don’t believe me, but when they try it themselves they see that green really is almost never what you want it to be without its great modifier, red.I loved every minute of making this painting, even if it was challenging. I had to completely design the sky how I wanted it since the weather was changing from clear sky to completely overcast throughout the course of the day.The circular composition is what holds this painting together, along with the clear planes from flat to the tilted hills to the upright of the trees. I’m always up for the next challenge and love those painting competitions- bring it on!Join me for a plein air workshop in Italy. Click here to see upcoming dates.