Traveling painter

Ive been on a couple a trips over the last two weekends where I had no wifi most of the time. In a way it was nice to disconnect from my daily routine of social media, navigation, phone calls, texting, and email. I became more present and aware of my surroundings.

My first trip was to Winthrop, Washington to join a plain air watercolor workshop with my long time teacher and mentor, Tom Hoffman of Seattle. He is such an awesome teacher and I worship him for his loose and fluid style of landscape painting. Ive been on a few of his workshops over the last 7 years, but this one was one of the best. The Methow Valley in Winthrop and in Twisp was extraordinary. Huge rolling hills covered in fall foliage. I saw possibilities for paintings everywhere I looked.

Over the four days I was there , I really focused on painting the hills in the distance with the beautiful yellow and rich green gold cottonwood and aspens shining in the sunlight. Painting the same scene multiple times is such a great learning experience and where I learn the most about the subject that I am painting. Doing multiples is so great to work out the challenges in a painting. So sitting in the same spot all day long for six hours painting the same hills and the same trees over and over again may seem monotonous, yet over time the work becomes more comprehensive, and well executed.

I love these exercises when Im painting outside. I think of these paintings as studies and sketches where I learn about true color from nature, how to paint in the moment as the light quickly changes and the wind speeds up. There is a lot to be said about painting outdoors. It takes a lot of effort and planning, but in the long run it is so rewarding.