Nisqually Paint Out

Rain was pouring really hard while I was driving to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. I was worried that people might not show up for our first paint out of the year. Or that those who did show would get really wet! But the rain had abated somewhat when I got there, and a bunch of people were already painting in the ample sheltered area by the visitor center.

Rain fell on and off during the morning, but there was enough things to paint in the covered area, I thought. I painted the marsh grass, and then something overly complicated. :/ This was my first time to go to the Nisqually Wildlife refuge, but you can bet I'll be back again. The whole area is super picturesque.

It really cleared out later in the afternoon. As Jane Wallis, our wonderful facilitator told me, "it turned out to be a crisp, lovely northwest plein air painting day with dramatic skies and periods of brilliant color illuminated by the sun." 

In the end, more than a dozen people came to the paint out. A few of us went to the Nisqually Bar and Grill for some food, drinks and camaraderie. A nice end to such a fun day.  Thanks so much to Jane and Sylvia for facilitating! Our next paint out will be April 18, at the Seattle Arboretum. Come join the fun, and see you at the next paint out!

Tips and thoughts from PAWA bloggers

update: added Paula's excellent blog

Jolyn Well-Moran messaged me on Facebook, suggesting that I share some of the content that other PAWA painters have posted in their blogs. I thought that was a terrific idea, since many of our members also are also bloggers, and have excellent advice. So I'm rounding up some blog post I've read from our fine PAWA artists that are thought provoking and educational.

• We can start with Jolyn's own admonition: "Don't Paint the Thing." A good reminder to paint what we see, instead of what we know in our head.
• Paula Ensign's blog, love to draw, is a treasure trove of information about drawing, like her post on circles in perspective.
• Robin Weiss is a pretty prolific blogger, but one series of blog posts where he had short videos of how he was developing a plein air painting stood out to me. I think it captures really well both the fun and the struggle of plein air painting.
• Emiliya Lane has a post on whether phthalo blue is warmer or cooler than ultramarine blue. I have my own personal take on that, but go read her piece and decide for yourself :).
• Melanie Thomspon uses her car as plein air equipment. This is something I noticed: seasoned plein air painters have hatchbacks.
• Karen Whitworth has a tip on resolving portrait painting issues: turn it upside down.
• Finally, although Ned Mueller has only 2 posts on his blog, I found his musings on "quality" quite thought provoking. I wish he blogged more.

Hope this was a useful collection of links. I've only included stuff here from people's blogs that I know about. If you are a member of Plein Air Washington Artists, and you have a blog, please contact me; if people like this, I could post more like it in the future. Though perhaps only occasionally--this was harder to write than I thought!