BeckerArt FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter Sept. 1st, Plein-Air Sun

Published: Tue, 09/01/20

Hello

Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #276, Plein-Air Sun

Hello from Dillman's and my watermedia workshop! This will be the 3rd time I have taught this workshop and I am liking this class more and more each time. This workshop in done with 4 different acrylics types on 4 different surfaces and covers everything from watercolor techniques to acrylic techniques and the best thing is the students don't have to bring any supplies, I provide everything.

Next week I will be up in Minnesota for close to 2 weeks painting plein-air every chance I get and I will also be part of a plein-air event called Plein-Air Grand Marais. Here is my page for the event.
Here is the website for the event. www.pleinairgrandmarais.org

The BeckerArt Daily Paintings that I post every day on Instagram and Facebook may or may not happen every day due to the fact that I will be away and there will be times I will not have great WiFi. Also if you purchase a Daily painting from my website you will probably have to wait for a month if you want the painting matted. If you just want the painting with no mat then I can ship it from where I am at.

I am away for the next 3 weeks so please check here each week to see if I have a sub for the Thursday class.
The Studio McHenry will be closed on Saturday mornings until I return.

Yes to Class at the Civic Center in Libertyville August 27th from 1pm to 3:30pm

Yes to Class at the BeckerArt Studio in McHenry August 29th From 9am to 11:30am

Email me at Beckerart@gmail.com for any info you may need about my classes or workshops.

Plein-Air and the Sun

Since I will and have been painting a lot of plein-air work this summer I want to give you a few tips on what to do and not to do when working outside in the sun.

The most important thing that you will have to remember when you are painting outside and it's sunny... You can not paint with direct sunlight on your painting surface, no direct sunlight on your W/C paper. It is so important that you try to either sit under a tree or some kind of structure. You can also get an umbrella to cover your paper and your palette. The palette however if you can't get covered is okay to still paint, but it will be hard to do because it will dry really quick in direct sunlight.

Having the sun on your painting surface is so bad for so many things in watercolor. It dries really quickly from the heat. You can't really tell how dark your values are when the painting in direct sunlight. Most importantly I think it can do damage to your eyes because you will be staring into a very bright white sheet of paper.

The best shots for when you are painting and the sun is out is to have the sun from the sides or directly in front, like the image below. The lesser desirable angle of the sun would be to have it directly behind you because of the shadows going away from you so for instance you wouldn't see them behind a tree.

Don't chase the sun when painting outdoors. When you start the painting take a shot of the scene and work with that light thought out the entire painting. If you keep on changing the painting as the sun shifts it will screw up your composition and value pattern you started with. A lot of the time if you forget what the sun was doing to your scene, just refer back to your image on your camera.

When it is super hot and you are painting in the sun make sure you always have extra water bottles for drinking and for your water container, you're gonna need it in the heat!

Have fun Plein-air painting

David

BeckerArt WORKSHOPS and DEMOS of 2020

WORKSHOP Dillman's, Lac Du Flambeau, W/C, Wisconsin, Aug. 31st to Sept. 3rd INFO HERE

WORKSHOP Artisan Expo, W/C & Acrylics, Santa Fe, MN. Sept. 24th to Sept. 26th CANCELED

WORKSHOP Sangamon Watercolor Society, W/C, Springfield, IL. Oct. 9th to Oct. 12th CANCELED

WORKSHOP Duluth Art Institute, WC, Duluth, MN. October 22nd, 23rd & 24th INFO HERE

BeckerArt WORKSHOPS and DEMOS of 2021

WORKSHOP The Villages, WC, Villages, FL. January 11th and 12th INFO HERE

WORKSHOP The Villages, Acrylics, Villages, FL. January 13th and 14th INFO HERE

WORKSHOP Gold Coast Watercolor Society Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Feb. 16th 17th and 18th INFO HERE

WORKSHOP Michigan Water Color Society, Battle Creek, MI. June 1st, 2nd and 3rd INFO HERE

WORKSHOP Dillman's, Lac Du Flambeau, W/C, Wisconsin, June28th - July 1st INFO HERE

2 Products of the Week
Umbrella and a Holder

When working Plein-air it is very important to get a good umbrella and a good way to attach it to something like your easel.

HOLDER UMBRELLA

Artists of the Week

Tara Sweeney

Found another Minnesota Artist. Here is an artist that does some amazing portrait work in Watercolors.

BeckerArt Demo/PAINT-A-LONG will hopefully be on September 3rd at 6:30 done Plein-air near Dillman's so there will be no photo until after the demo. This plein-air I will be trying for the first time my live YouTube feed instead of Facebook so meet me here on YouTube

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/davidrbeckerart

BECKERART DAILY PAINTINGS

I might not be able to post a daily painting every day while at Dillman's or when in Minnesota due to there will be times I won't have any or not great WiFi so I won't be able to download any images into my website and I also can't ship so I may have to take a couple days or weeks off. You can still look at the paintings and even buy the ones on my site, but you will have to wait a couple of weeks to get the painting.

BeckerArt Brushes

Click Here to Purchase BeckerArt Brushes

Shop Amazon by clicking the logo below to help me fund this newsletter... Thank You!

If you are looking to help me fund my BeckerArt Studio/Classroom during this Pandemic may I suggest purchasing a daily painting and for those that want to help a small business stay in business click the Donate button below. For those wishing to send a donation you can do it to:
BeckerArt 3314 Pearl Street, McHenry, IL.60050
THANK YOU!

For any other info please email me at david@davidrbecker.com