Mariemont Paint-Out

Plein air painting is not exactly a walk in the park.

That was my lesson from last weekend, when I participated in the first annual Mariemont Paint-Out.  

Organized by the Woman's Art Club of Cincinnati Foundation, here is the event description from their website:

I've never done plein air painting before, but I adore our neighborhood, Mariemont, so I decided to give it a try.

Specialized plein air easels exist, but I don't have one... my setup probably looked ridiculous!

Personally, what I love about Mariemont (pronounced Mary-mont, for those outside Cincinnati) is the canopy of trees over the beautiful old homes.  It makes for excellent views on a walk, so I painted the bend in the road which is usually the end of my walk home:

Moving really fast - trying to capture the light while I can...

I painted for 2 hours on Friday morning, then returned at 8:30 Saturday morning to give it another go.  Took a break mid-day.  Altogether, probably spent 7 hours on this?

I realize now that I looked like a crazy person.  Oh well.

Here's my finished piece!  I love how thick and juicy the paint got while I was trying to work in some fast layers.  It was still wet when I photographed this, so please forgive the glare.

Plein air painting was a new kind of challenge for me.  It really changes the way you perceive your subject.  I'd love to exercise that technique more in the future!