The month has just begun and my days have been filled with working on TBA projects and slowly attempting to plein-air paint everyday for the Pleinapril challenge. For those who don’t know what plein-air painting is, it refers to the act of painting outside. There are no set rules for mediums to use or what you paint as long as you’re breathing that fresh air. Pleinapril, similar to art challenges like Inktober or Mermay, refers to an instagram month long campaign that encourages artists to paint one plein air painting a day for the month of April.
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I used to paint from life a lot, especially in my later high school and college years, but the practice died down after I graduated and started freelancing. I’ve been itching to get back into the groove to improve my skills and rekindle my love for traditional painting: plus I needed an excuse to revive my old gouache paints living in my palette box (gouache is expensive and I didn’t want the dried paint to go to waste!)
My gouache container filled with Winsor & Newton designer gouache I bought as an art school student. Some of the paints are very dried out but I won't let them die so easily! I keep them sealed with two old hairbands and wet each square with a few drops of water every time I open the container..
In the past I would have eagerly held myself up to the impossible standard of making a perfect painting everyday (little Julie had a perfectionism problem…and still kind of does), but as someone with other deadlines I decided to make a pretty chill rule list:
No more than an hour and 30 minutes on one painting
Paint outside and/or use photo references
Use the old gouache set you’ve had sitting in your room
Paint on 3.5in by 5.5in precut watercolor paper
Skip days if you need
With these loose rules set in place I have been able to keep up with the challenge thus far. (Woot for chill rules) Here are some of the paintings I’ve done so far and the little stories behind them:
April 1st: A view from an apartment complex. The sun was very intense and I probably got sunburnt on my neck a bit but it was a good start to the month. You can plein-air anywhere so feel free to do it in places that aren’t just scenic nature spots! Also make sure you feel comfortable and safe in the places you paint too!
April 2nd: Painted a decomposing fallen tree on a crisp, warm day. I brought my tripod-pochade box set up for this one. It’s more of a hassle in terms of setting up all my materials to paint but it allows me to work while standing which is great for looking at the subject from different vantage points.
April 3rd: The spring flowers and weeds growing around a tree in the late morning/ early afternoon. This photo provides a better view of my pochade box set up. I have my gouache palette, water cup, brushes, rag, and palette paper in a makeshift makeup container. The box is set atop of a camera tripod and is quite sturdy.
April 4th: Tried night painting for the first time on an almost full moon. I foolishly tried to do this without any light on my palette, which was an act of hubris on my part. 75% through the painting I could hardly see anything so I turned on my phone flashlight and saw my painting was saturated with extreme blues and yellows that did not match the mood of the scene at all. The last 25% was spent trying to fix my mistakes made in the dark. While I wish I approached this piece differently I learned a lot. Hopefully I'll have another chance to redeem myself.
April 5th: I had a business lunch meeting in New York City so I rushed to get a painting done in Central Park. The cherry blossom trees are in bloom so I wanted to capture some in my art before they leave. The day was wet and chilly so I didn’t have to worry about rehydrating my paints but that also meant my paper was completely soaked by the time I was finished. Some of the paint ended up coming off when I put it away which resulted in a dappled light look to the final piece. Sometimes weather can effect our art more than we expect.
April 6th: Buildings are hard! I tried to capture the warm light that was reflecting onto the buildings while also factoring in the angles and shadows from the bricks. This didn’t turn out as I hoped but I was grateful to have such a good chance to practice a subject I don’t normally focus on.
April 7th and 8th: I worked off these photographs taken within the last week. Both unintentionally used a lot of the same yellow and blue hues despite being very different times of the day.
April 9th: Tried to focus on a composition with multiple subjects that were inorganic and organic. The colors in this one weren’t as bold as some of the other studies, but I found that the light and shadows carved out the house and trees in a way that fit the painting as a whole.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these little painting stories. I’ve been having a blast revisiting gouache and dusting off my pochade box + tripod easel setup. Subscribe to see the rest of the month’s paintings and my little adventures along the way!
EXTRA RESOURCES
The Pleinapril challenge was coined by the awesome Warrior Painters, an artistic community that is vocal about plein-air painting and whose founders are some of the most talented people working in entertainment art industry. You can find more info about them HERE
If you want to learn from a contemporary master of plein-air and fantasy painting please check out James Gurney! He has so many videos and references on his YOUTUBE CHANNEL and BLOG respectively that have helped me grow as an artist!
The Sketch Bug is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
These paintings are gorgeous! You’re inspiring me to try do some Plein-air painting 😍
Love a good challenge with set but loose rules 💛