Spring, and a Young Artist's Fancy Turns to Plein Air

Spring




And a young artists fancy turns to…

....…plein air!

Actually, even not so young artists get the itch to get out of the studio and out into the warm air and paint, draw, photograph anything that is not inside!




So it was with pencil in hand I left home early this Wednesday planning to spend a little time wandering Ritter Park.



Ok, so the day was a little gray. Well, a lot gray, but it is early May, after all. But I was optimistic. The park would be green, and the dogwoods would be blooming.



Rainy Day in Ritter Park



Alas – by the time I had run a few errands, it had started to sprinkle. Just a fine mist, but water was leaking from the sky.

As I rounded to corner onto Ritter Park, the deluge began. Not just a light sprinkle. This was what the faucet salesman call “rainforest” when trying to sell a fancy showerhead! But cold, very cold.



I did take comfort in the fact that I was not alone in my disappointment. There was a line of cars, each filled with persons (human and canine) dismally eyeing the skies, looking longingly at the paths surrounding Ritter Park.



Sketch from Ritter Park
S. Tschantz



Now Ritter Park is a favorite of artist and joggers alike. It runs for blocks along a creek, and into the hills of Huntington WV. It has jogging/walking paths, playgrounds, tennis courts and picnic shelters. It also contains a rose garden. One of the best rose gardens in the country, and May is usually when it starts to come to life. But that will have to wait for a let up in the monsoon like rains we are getting this year!



From Day spent at Ritter Park
S. Tschantz

 Perhaps later I will get in my day of plein aire!

Its Gone, the Sketchbook Library Project

The sketchbook is gone. Mailed off today. I have mixed feeling about it. There was so much work and worry into it. I wanted to be true to the idea of a sketch book, a place for taking graphic notes, but also wanted it to be interesting for someone else to look at, which frankly, most sketch books are not.

And they are not supposed to be. The idea is for the artist to make quick sketches, more like notes or visual records of things seen to be used as reference when back in the studio.

Also they are a great way to learn. Because they are quick, you have to locate and record the most important lines and details, reduce what you see to the key lines and images. Because what you are doing is out in public, or plein aire, they have to be quick. Life does not wait for the artist to record it.