Thursday, August 25, 2016

En Plein Air: Jennifer and Ester Chatting on the Lawn (Oil, 8 x 12)


I went to the Forest Park this afternoon, looking for something to paint. It would be the last painting I was going to make in New York this summer. As a matter of fact, one of the purpose I went there was to clear my pochade box. I didn't want to make a mess at home with the leftover paints in the box. I had kept squeezing fresh paints on top of the old. They piled high but dried up and formed a crust. Therefore, even though the box looked pretty full, whenever I needed to mix paint, it was so difficult to get soft paint that I felt like mining in the pochade box with my palette knife. I knew it was time to clear it. Anyway, I am leaving for Florida soon.

When I got to the park, I saw two girls sitting on the grass eating and chatting. Without telling them, I noticed their postures changed frequently. And I had to change the image a couple of times till finally, I caught Ester on the canvas. However, Jennifer began to lie down. When she looked up from the blanket for a moment, I motioned her over. She was excited as she realized I was painting them. Then I asked her if she could sit up for a while. She was very happy to do that for me. I quickly grabbed the moment and completed her image.

After the sketch was completed, I scraped all the paint off of the pochade box. Now I'll say "See you next summer." to my New York fellow artists and "Hello, Florida." to my friends at home.

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