By John MacDonald
In part two of this two-part series, artist John MacDonald writes about turning failures into wins and learning to love the process. Part one was about the difference between painting from photos and painting from life and how to get out of our own way when confronted with the vast expanse of the great outdoors.
Head Training
Paintings created en plein air fail at a much higher rate than studio paintings. There’s no avoiding it. But it’s tough to fail. No one enjoys looking like a rank beginner. Failing repeatedly gives our self-confidence a thrashing and then goes for our jugular as it inevitably evokes anxiety and fear.
John MacDonald, Clouds on Greylock, 12 x 16 inches
It’s precisely when our paintings fail that we can learn the most and plein air painting is a brutally honest teacher—it takes all of our artistic limitations and sticks them in our face. If we can manage our fear and continue to paint honestly, then our failures will help us become stronger and more skilled painters. And then they’re no longer failures.
Painting outdoors will invariably attract the curious. Occasionally, at the end of a conversation (hopefully brief!), a bystander will say something like, “But even when a painting doesn’t work out, isn’t it great to be outside in this beautiful scene?” Yes, it truly is.
John MacDonald, Fading Light, Field Pond Farm
Heart Training
Whether or not the painting is destined for the wall of the gallery or the trash can in the garage, in the seeing that accompanies the painting there is often a fading away of the sense of self and a merging with the beauty of this world.
In the process of painting our eyes can open like never before to the miraculous interplay of color and light and texture. Then the awareness moves beyond the visual as we get lost in the joy of feeling wind on the face, the incredible music of moving water and dancing leaves, and the feeling oneself as being an integral part of it all.
John MacDonald, plein air streamed
Painting on location gives us the opportunity to see this world in ways that others can’t even image. What a parade of miracles is passing in front of us!
We end our plein air session, clean up, and return to the studio, shutting the door behind us and pulling out the paints and canvas—one more time—but now with with a greatly expanded appreciation for and awareness of this world and this crazy but precious activity we call painting.
John MacDonald teaches the principles of standout landscape painting in his video, Poetic Landscapes . Download it today.
The PACE is on!
Plein air work by Tom Christopher.
Tom Christopher is among the more than 80 painters sharing time and skills with participants during the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) in Denver this week (May 21-25, 2023).
“My goal is to paint relatively common scenes in a more dramatic and interesting way,” Tom says. “Most of my finished works are the result of reference photographs and on-location (plein-air) studies.”
Tom is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America (PSA) and Master Circle, International Association of Pastel Societies. (IAPS)
The pekin air world is pretty much focused this week on the PACE even. Every year, hundreds of the world’s most enthusiastic outdoor painters gather at PACE to learn painting techniques from the world’s top plein air artists. They come to see what’s new, what’s hot, and what’s working RIGHT NOW in art marketing. It is the largest gathering of plein air painters on the planet and there is no other event like it. The “Woodstock of plein air” is different every year, yet every year there are artists at PACE who are, or will become, some of the greatest artists of our time… and you get to meet and mingle with them.
Learn more about PACE.
