Ohio Plein Air Society Paintout 2015 - Licking County, Ohio

I just returned from an OPAS paintout this weekend. It was great meeting so many wonderful and talented artists. I completed four paintings and a small sketch over the two and a half day event. The final show was on the streets near Sunbear Gallery in Alexandria, Ohio. This tiny rural town gave us a big warm welcome. :)

Here are street scenes of the paint sale:

...and close-ups of my two paintings...

To get this painting above, I dragged my gear to Blackhand Gorge using a luggage cart. I then carried all my stuff up a path with roots scattered like pick-up sticks. Then, I crossed a foot bridge, climbed down a few rocks and walked to a small beach oasis in the woods. I realized how dangerous this could potentially be if I ever broke an ankle - in the middle of nowhere. I'm seriously considering a switch to watercolor sketches. After the event, I headed down to Hocking Hills and did a few watercolor sketches while hiking. My gear was lightweight in a small drawstring backpack and I carried my folding stool using my yoga strap carrier across my shoulders. My hands were free to use hiking poles.  I'm thinking this is a good way to go.

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I entered a Granville house for the main competition.

...and painted a porch scene for the two hour quick draw.

My quick draw painting sold! Happy Day!

...and I was finally able to get a three night stay at one hotel. So, instead of driving around with my wet paintings, I stored them in my room closet. My drying rack (posted 9/6) worked great with the variety of panel sizes. Removing the back panel, I could adjust the size. It traveled with ease. I can even see flying with these, since they pack easily, or at least heading to a local Office Max to purchase them.

Erin in Triplicate

Charcoal, 45 minute pose

Charcoal, 35 minute pose

Charcoal, 50 minute pose

Tonight, at the Literary Cafe, I completed 3 sketches of Erin, our model. I also managed to do a quick sketch of one of the artists in the room. I hope to keep working this way - quickly establishing the crucial areas, light and dark patterns while attempting to be freer with my medium.

Man in Black

Charcoal on brown kraft - about 2 hours.
I love Emmanuel's Walter White hat!

Graphite, 30 minute pose

Art Panel Carrier - Cheap!

I've decided to join the Ohio Plein Air Society's annual competition at the end of the month. With this event only being a few weeks away, many hotels are booked on the last Friday. Unfortunately, this means finding a distant hotel or staying at the "pet friendly" one for the night. Switching hotels also means, I need to keep my paintings in the trunk of my car since having a hotel, home base as storage will not be an option. (knock on wood, the weather will not be too hot!) I have several RayMar carriers, but not one large enough for my 16" x 20" panels. I'd also like to avoid buying another carrier. I've seen a few elaborately made of cardboard, but I really didn't want to spend the time. Here's my solution:

For each side, I taped together two file racks from Office Max. A strip of duct tape was use to attach a 10" x 20" canvas panel to each side of the file racks. A long cord for a handle was attached to the opposite end of the racks. I already had the cord and panel handy...the grand total came to about $12!

In this image, I added in another panel into the slots and stood the carrier upright. I can keep it flat in my car trunk. One extra plus - I realized that I can take this carrier apart, when no longer needed, and use the separate pieces. The racks can be used to store my smaller paintings and I can still paint on the 10" x 20" panel. I hope this works out!

Graphite drawing

Graphite- 3 hour session