Blog

Ever wonder what it’s like to participate in one of these plein-air competitions? Here’s the lowdown on my recent experience in this year’s 20^thanniversary Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational. I was so honored to be among the select few artists invited to take part!

 

To mark the occasion, all past Best of Show winners were invited back, as well as many artists who participated in the early years. The number of artists was increased back up to 50. We were expected to do three new paintings for exhibition at the gala plus any number of others we wanted. We could also bring six paintings from home, and we each sent one earlier for exhibition and another for the catalog.

 

Participating in the Best of Show book signing

 

Saturday, October 6^th, we all met at the Festival of the Arts for an orientation breakfast. Afterwards we could paint at Treasure Island Park, a spectacular location on the cliffs over the ocean, overseen by the Montage Hotel, formerly a trailer park! Having painted there many times, I chose to paint at a coastal preserve north of town. After going along the bluffs north and south and down to the beach below, I chose to face inland to do a pastel of a pond filled with waterfowl. I also scoped out another location to paint from in the coming days.

 

Sunday, the dreaded Quick Draw. The public loves them, but most artists do not! A timed two-hour painting. Upon completion, the works go into a frame and up for auction. In my opinion, these are an invitation for mediocre work. However, the public loves watching “an artist do a painting in just two hours!” 

 

That afternoon, I went back to the beach park and did a 12 x 24-inch scene that ended up going nowhere.  Still early in the week!

 

Monday morning I was out the door by 7AM and headed down to coast to Doheny Beach State Park, a long, sandy beach with eucalyptus trees at the back and a palm-studded lawn area. They were taking down a weekend surfing event, and wonderful tents were still standing. I was immediately captivated by golden light streaming across distant water under a mostly cloudy sky. Better get photos and an underpainting down quickly! Within an hour, the sun was out full and I was in the shade of a lifeguard tower. The young surfers hanging out around the tower wondered at the fully clothed, hatted guy with an easel and a box of pastels!

 

Silver and Gold, pastel, 8 x 18

 

While still there, I began another painting of iconic eucalyptus trees towering over a coastal pond at the back edge of the beach. It needed so much editing (removing houses on the hills behind, for one) that I came nowhere near to finishing the scene.

 

Next stop, Salt Creek County Beach. Huge parking lot, very steep lawn down to the rocky cliffs, and a wonderful beach full of surfers, families, tourists. I decided to do a pastel from the shaded picnic area above looking down on a slice of beach, seawall with lifeguard tower, and two majestic palms swaying above. Do I leave out the odd little building? Decided to keep it in. Little figures on the beach and seawall. I decided to later add a group of pelicans to grab some attention in the big sky.

 

Salt Creek Beach, pastel, 12 x 24

 

Does it sound a bit hectic? A little pressure? Sure, plein-air competitions are all of that, but also so rewarding and full of camaraderie with my fellow artists and the art enthusiasts who come out to see us work. By the end of the week, it was a pleasure to select what I considered to be my best three works and submit them into the final exhibition. And, of course, the ending gala is always great fun!

 

Sweet Autumn, pastel, 12 x 24