40 in France

This year I turned 40, and to celebrate I planned a month of landscape painting in France, something I have wanted to do since I first visited France at age 16. I chose the Dordogne region in the south-west of France because of it’s reputation for beautiful, varied landscape: rolling green hills, cliff towns, winding rivers, forests, and most important…… castles!!

Chateau Feyrac, 9x12, oil on paper

We rented a house in the gorgeous little town of Beynac-et-Cazenac, which is a network of steep cobblestoned streets and adorable stone houses crowned with a 12th century castle at the top.

Veiw of Chateau Beynac from the Dordogne, 9x12, oil in paper

I decided to paint on paper for a portable, lightweight material perfect for plein air sketches. Before the trip I cut sheets of Rives BFK printing paper in various tones into standard sizes, mostly 5x7 and 9x12. Then I primed the paper with 2 coats of Golden Acrylic Medium. Each day I just taped a piece of paper to a foamcore backing and mounted it on my Open Box M setup. It was a wonderful surface to paint on!

See my previous blog post post describing my plein air setup

As it turned out, it ended up raining for 2 of the 4 weeks we were in Beynac, so I did not get to paint nearly as much as I’d planned. But instead we hung out with visiting friends and family who shared our rental house and rented other houses in the same village.

Chateau Castelnaud, 9x12, oil on paperAt the very end of the trip the rain cleared and I got one last painting day in. I found a beautiful quiet spot next to a field of corn with a view of neighboring Chateau Castelnaud. The day was warm and lazy, and the #1 BEST thing about painting in France is….. NO MOSQUITOS!!!!

To see all of my paintings from France this summer:

Picasa Google+ Album: France Plein Air 2011

Facebook Album: France Plein Air 2011

See my photos of Paris, Beynac, and the Dirdgne region of France:

Facebook Album: Artsy Shots of France 2011

From the Hudson to the Dordogne

A view of the Dordogne River in France

In Summer of 2009 I was accepted into the Hudson River Fellowship started by Jacob Collins. I blogged during the month-long trip, posting all of my plein air sketches and paintings as we learned to study the landscape as the pre-Impressionist painters of the 19th century did: With careful, detailed contour drawings of foreground elements, and precise color analysis of the landscape.

This summer I’ll be spending the month of July with my husband in the Dordogne region of south west rural France,where we have rented a house and plan to set up a home base. I’ll be doing landscape study using the same Hudson River School methods and techniques to draw and paint the medieval villages, castles, and rolling countryside of this historic region.

I’ll be posting everything to my blog, and hope you’ll follow along with my plein air adventure! If you’d like to be notified the moment I post new artwork during my trip you can sign up for my mailing list by entering your email address in the column to the right of this post.

Plein Air Setup

Painting outdoors is inspiring, beautiful, centering, and so adrenaline-rushing as to be addictive!

However, it is also uncomfortable, frustrating, full of distractions, and when your umbrella topples your easel over in a breeze, exceptionally maddening.

I have finally assembled a setup I find to be ideal - a good balance of lightweight, sturdy, and flexible:

    

• Open Box M pochade box 10x12
  
• Julienne painter's umbrella
  
• Manfrotto tripod with joystick head
  
• Manfrotto jointed arm that clamps directly to the tripod and holds the umbrella securely at any angle, with clamps at either end for grasping the easel and the umbrella handle. NOTE: Amazon sells the arm, but not the clamps, so call Open Box M to order through them.
  
• I also have a lightweight walking cane that folds open into a small stool, which I got here at Bed Bath and Beyond
  
• I also find these small things essential:
  Seal-able solvent can
  Viewfinder
  
• This accessory I have not bought yet, but I see how it could come in handy

This is how I pack it:
Instead of carrying around tubes of oil paint, I load up my Open M pallete with fresh nuggets of paint before I leave for the day. Sometimes I pack a small tube of white, if it's going to be a long day out.

I can fit my Open M pochade box, brushes, and solvent can in a backpack or shoulder bag, along with paper towels, lunch, etc.

The tripod, cane, Manfrotto arm, and umbrella I lash together with 2 short bungee cords. All those things combined are not very heavy, and I can carry it by the cane handle, or under my arm easily. For a long hike I might get a strap for it so I can carry it on my back.

Travelling with oil paints
I have traveled now many times with oil paint, and despite the horror stories we have all heard about having oil paints confiscated, I have never had a problem with this procedure:

Here is what I do:

• Download and print a couple "material safety data sheets" (MSDS) which describe the contents of the paint - there's a different sheet for every color, but I just choose 2 or 3 and print those. Each manfacturer writes up and makes data sheets available online as PDF for all their colors, just google search one your paint brands and a color name with the phrase "material safety data sheets" and you'll find it.
  Here is a list of links to of many of the of MSDS paint brands
  
• Print out a sign with big font that says:
  These are vegetable oil based artists materials.
  They are not flammable.
  Data sheets enclosed.
  DO NOT USE THE WORD "PAINT". The word paint is a big problem.
  
• Fold the MSDS sheets and the sign together so the big message shows up on top.
  
• Put all the tubes of oil paint in a gallon-sized heavy duty ziplock, and put in the folded packet of sheets so the sign is visible through the plastic bag. Make sure every tube is tightly-capped and there are not any holes in any of the tubes, the pressure changes during the flight will make a mess of any leaky tubes.
  
• Place the bag near the top of your suitcase with the sign-side up so it's immediately accessible if security searches my bag. (I always get that little note saying they searched my bag, but my paint has never been confiscated.)
  
• Check the bag. I wouldn't try to bring paints on board.
  
• I also packed a tiny tin of the "natural turpenoid" (in the GREEN can) along with my painting supplies in my checked bag, to use as my medium. It says non-flammable very clearly right on the tin. I wouldn't use it as a medium in major paintings, but for sketches and all prima work while travelling it's probably fine.
  
• I wouldn't bring any solvents, oils, mediums, or any kind of mysterious liquids in bottles. I usually buy those or borrow them when I arrive
  
• Finally: Don't forget your palette knife! :)

Hope that helps! It would be terrible if the paints got confiscated and that's always a risk, so I can't guarantee it will be fine, but it's worked for me.

WPW on Expedition: Wed and Thurs

Philadelphia Alley, Queen Street entrance, Charleston, SC
9 x 12 inches, oil on panel

Wednesday I painted in downtown Charleston. This city is so beautiful that I saw a half-dozen scenes I'd like to paint within just a couple blocks! I finally set up in a cobble stoned alley

Color study of Lauren

10 x 14, oil on panel

After painting outside for the afternoon, we hired a model for the evening and set up in the living room. I am completely unfamiliar with single-session figure painting, so I was scrambling for the 3 hours, but I was happy to at least have managed a reasonably proportioned figure with basic color blocked in.

Today (Thursday) I returned to Magnolia Gardens and decided to do pencil sketches of an amazing tableau of 3 live oaks which I'd spotted on our previous trip to the gardens.

WPW on Expedition: Tuesday

Tree study at the Isle of Hope, SC

Today Shannon Runquist invited us to paint at her home, which backs up to to marshland where I set up. We also hired a model, and some painters worked with her on Shannon's veranda.

 Raw umber underpainting, leaving edges soft

Blocked in the sky to help define edges

Blocked in marsh grasses

Smaller brushes to define details and edges of leaves.

I'm hoping to get another session on this painting when we return Thursday.

This was my lovely painting location, on a dock over the marsh

I am loving my plein air setup with the umbrella and a new double-jointed elbow clamp to attach it to the tripod. I am also really happy with my Open Box M easel. I'll be writing a full description of my setup soon!

A friend kept me company at the end of the dock.