Frequency of plein air painting

I’m often asked how I can find the time to paint, especially with a full-time job.  My answer is that if it’s really important to you, you’ll make the time.  In my case, summers are my less busy time but in the performing arts season, my weekends are usually busy.

Plein air oil painting of apples, 8 x 10

One of the good things about living on my 90 acres is that I can just walk out the door of my studio and find something paintable, nearly every season, any time of day.  Sometimes I don’t have a great deal of time to pack up and drive to some scenic location so I start scouting around the farm for something interesting.

This past weekend I just walked behind my studio into my apple orchard to do a quick plein air sketch.  The wind was blowing, the bugs were biting, but this little 8 x 10 oil painting only took about an hour.  It’s not so much the finished product as the practice.  Sargent used to paint daily, even when he was visiting friends, and then wipe off his canvases at the end of the day to start anew the next day.  I won’t tell you how many layers of painting some of my canvases have.  😉