Sometimes your best painting buddy is your vehicle. If the weather turns chilly or breezy (or even if it’s just too sunny) all you have to do is find a place to park where you can paint out the window. If you have a hatchback (or a camper shell), you have more options for finding a view. The Guerrilla Painter does this all the time, and he finds that listening to the radio helps him concentrate (of course, I’d want to avoid the news, which has been way too interesting lately).
Often, it’s while I’m driving that I’ll notice something worth painting, so it’s easy enough to just find a place to pull over. It’s a good habit to keep your gear in your car, ready for any opportunity. It only takes a few minutes to shift into "right-brain" mode and notice colors, shapes, lines, value contrasts. Maybe you find yourself waiting for someone, or there’s just a few more minutes of daylight with the sky turning colors, or you notice an intriguing architectural detail...
Sitting in a car can also help you focus by protecting your privacy and keeping annoying onlookers at a distance.
5 comments:
Yes, I agree, it's a good idea to keep a complete set of painting gear in the car! You never know when you will have a painting opportunity.
Thanks, Nancy! I used to think that if you use watercolor, you had a built-in excuse for not painting outdoors in winter. But you can always do it in the car.
Now, where did that other comment go...it vanished into thin air. Dang...
"Sitting in a car can also help you focus by protecting your privacy & keeping annoying onlookers at a distance."
Um, depends on where you are, I guess. I do this regularly, and find that people are just naturally curious. Or maybe "nosy" is the right word. (Sometimes it is honest concern that someone just parked is ok.)
At first they will discreetly observe from a distance (while pretending they aren't).
Inevitably someone will walk past my car as if headed somewhere. Out of the corner of my eye I can see first their eyes and then their heads swivel as they go by. Then someone will amble by and casually say something like "That looks interesting. Mind if I have a look?" I am happy to turn what I am working on so they can see. That's the signal for others to wander over for a look-see.
Sometimes that's all there is to it, if I am in a place with just a few folks about, or people are intent on their own business. But, if it is a place in which any small group tends to draw in others to see what is going on, it means that my session is just about over...
Thanks, Dayle Ann. Hmmm, who would have guessed people would do that...
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