As noted in the previous post, I simplified my painting subjects … mostly.

The first day after regrouping, I painted my front door :) ! I liked the result and more importantly, I gained a bit of confidence. Also, a break from going out and about as I set up just off my front porch so could step inside and have a cup of tea waiting for layers to dry.

That’s the thing with watercolor … it is layers and if not left to dry, the result can be a mess. I was rushing things when painting from the back of the Jeep.

So, in addition to keep things simpler, I slowed down.

Still, I had days when I thought … “I have made no progress at all!”, i.e. I am not getting even a little better!! And days when I thought … “I am getting worse!”.

Yesterday (5/4/2024), I watched a video by one of my YouTube artist favorites and a Pleinairpril motivator: SarahBurnsStudio. Sarah is originally from the United States (Colorado). She married a Scot and has lived in Scotland for the last 7 plus years. She has been a professional artist for at least 10 years and went to art school … in her video of “5 really important things she learned from Pleinairpril” (this is her 3rd), she notes that the “no progress/regression” angst is common to all artists, including herself.

It was kind of funny … the weather in Scotland seemed to mimic the weather here in Northwest Montana … rain, snow, sleet, sun (minimal) and repeat. She had her share of painting out her house and/or car windows!

Still, as in the first half … I had ok, bad and downright awful results. I struggled some days with deciding what and where to paint. BUT, as soon as I started, I got lost in the process and even with frustrating results, I enjoyed. And I learned!

One of the biggest things I learned was to slow down, to observe and to think a bit before dipping a brush into the paint. For me, observation and really seeing shapes and colors and proportion … vs painting (or drawing) what I “think” is there is challenging. For example, a cup is round, right? Well, yes from the top down, but not from an angle. And that goes for structures and landscape.

I started using a bit of a trick … when I got things really wrong, I would print my reference photo … I always took a photo of what I intended to paint … and trace. Then compare the trace to my painting to see where I went wrong. I did a couple of “second try” paintings after doing that to teach myself. Some progress and I know that it will take a LOT of practice to get better at observation and translating that observation to a sketch or painting. Excellent brain exercising!!

So … second half paintings:

The top painting was from “real life” from the Jeep as it was raining and windy and with waterbrushes. I was not happy … The bottom is with my regular brushes from my reference photo and at my desk.

4/27 … super fail as noted.

4/29 … second try from reference photo. I didn’t hate the first but felt it could be better and felt like trying again.

The finale … ending like I started with “The road home”.

In addition to adjusting subject matter, I adjusted my kit as well … more detail on that in another post, but …

At “home”, I used a small household painting ladder … that got me thinking about some sort of transportable “easel” solution …

I received the above tripod mountable easel for the last 2 paintings. Also above is a Portable Painter palette. All evolving…

Sadly, on the 30th for the “Road Home” finale…

…alternating snow and rain squalls had me painting from inside the Jeep. Really inside as from the driver’s seat.

My absolute best experience was on 4/26/2024 when I painted at Wayfarer’s State Park in Bigfork. I used to walk here with Karl (Karelian Bear dog) almost daily. The thing that made the painting experience the best was that I knew I could park near picnic tables and I found a spot with a great view …

The option to set up outside similar to my at home desk setup was wonderful! And it gave me some ideas to be explored further.

Below are links to YouTube videos: my 2nd half video and SarahBurnsStudio video on the 5 important lessons.