Pleinapril Adventures, The End

Looking at the last few paintings and reflecting on the challenge itself

Happy May everyone! With a sombre mood I declare my pleinapril challenge is finished. It was a busy but fulfilling month filled with beautiful views, capricious weather, and big paint spills. (Rip to my paint bag that now looks like it has a bloodstain)
If you missed the previous posts, check out PART ONE and PART TWO

Thank you for coming on this incredible adventure with me and following along with every post made in this series. It means so much to see all your comments and joyous reactions to my little paintings. While this series is finished, the challenge has inspired me to keep this practice up. There is so much to learn from plein air painting that I had forgotten, and I am excited to see where my illustrations will go with all this work under my belt. Plus getting to work with gouache again sparks so much joy!

With that said, please enjoy the final Pleinapril pieces! Since the last few days of April were kind of gross there is a nice mix of in person and photo reference.

April 23rd: A view of a road in Valley Forge Park. The painting before this one was actually #22 not #23. Sorry for the mixup!

April 24th and April 25th: I visited my friend in Haddonfield, NJ for her birthday and took some wonderful night photos of some of the houses. I wanted to try my hand at a night painting again and ended up painting 2 pieces to make up for a day I skipped. The evening storefront ended up being one of my favorite pieces I painted this month!

April 26th: It was a rainy cold day so I stayed inside and painted a streetlight in studio backyard. The lighting was dim and grey; perfect for capturing the layers of the leaves and branches.

April 27th and April 28th: A mix of photo references due to deadlines. On the 27th I used another reference picture from the Valley Forge trip since the weather was so balmy. The 28th I used a reference I took of a storefront during a quick trip to NYC to see the "And That's Why We Drink" podcast live with my friend Clar Angkasa.

April 29th and April 30th: The last days of the challenge were packed with cold, rainy days so I stayed inside my studio to paint like a little hermit. I have an appreciation for painting on rainy days as it makes it easier to capture the colors of subjects without the worry of shadows drastically changing. April showers really do bring May flowers.

AND WITH THAT, THE MONTH IS OVER! Thank you again for following this journey along with me! It is so satisfying to see all the paintings come together. May your May be filled with warm days, art making of some kind, and good food!

If you’re interested in purchasing one of these paintings email me at mail@juliebenbassat.com with the painting # and your mailing address (venmo, paypal and/or check is accepted). All paintings will be $100 and 50% of the profits will go to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit specializing in helping LGBTQ youth.

---

EXTRA RESOURCES:

• My friend Clar Angkasa is a fantastic comic artist and animator whose first graphic novel will be out this October! Check out her BOOK and her INSTAGRAM

• If you’re looking for something wholesome to watch, my partner and I have been enjoying the anime, Skip and Loafer, which is a slice of life story about a girl named Mitsumi who moves from the countryside to attend a prestigious high school in Tokyo where she finds supportive and unique friends as she struggles to get used to her new life. If you’re not an anime person, I recommend the manga which is available in many bookstores and libraries.