I just did a show (August 6, 2011) in Stowe, Vermont called Art on the Fence. It was sponsored by the local Green Mountain Art Gallery. The show was for aspiring artists but as an artist, who has never shown in Stowe, I thought I would try it out anyway. I really have to thank the gallery for doing this show. It was a lot of work and it was well done. I must also, thank them for the live music! I decided to BLOG how I did the show for anyone who might like to try one. I have sold pottery and paintings at art fairs for years, so I am no amateur at these things, but it was still enlightening!

I planned my display ahead of time and tried to make it simple. No last minute construction or decisions. I suggest loading up the van or car the night before the show, so that all you have to think about in the morning, is coffee and doughnuts. Each artist was given six feet of space on a snow fence. I saw photos of the snow fence on the internet and guessed that I could display two 16” x 20” and one 11” x 14” framed paintings on the top row and then three 11’ x14” paintings on the bottom row. I also brought two TV trays to set out my stack of 11” x 14” smaller unframed canvases. The customers could shift them from one table to the other while looking at them. I had a small frame available to “try out” over the paintings. I made a display sign with my prices listed using my computer and put it in a plastic page to hang up. I did set up my display on the floor at home to measure for my fence space. I brought plenty of business cards with photos of my work and my website on them.

Having done many art sales and Plein Air paintings, I first looked to see where the shade would be in the afternoon and set up there. The fence was not like my living room floor. It was hard to position the paintings on a snow fence (they would tip), but my wife Dee suggested hanging the top row by slipping the wire over the slats of the fence. That worked better. The next row needed wire hooks and they leaned out some. I brought my usual box of hanging wires and equipment for this show, which was helpful. I recommend that you bring scissors, tape, notecards, maker pens, wire cutters and a screwdriver along. All on my framed paintings had off set (OOK brand) hooks with screws in them holding the canvases in place. They could be removed to sell the painting without a frame or to change the paintings. Both of my buyers didn’t want my frames. They all have different “decors” at home and they wanted to get their own frame. My paintings are very standard, so that was no problem.

I did sell two small paintings and “almost” sold two others. The wife or husband usually sabotaged the sale in the  “near sales”. One spouse actually called on the cell phone just a few feet away to discourage the other from buying a painting. The other issue or excuse was shipping. Some of the viewers were on vacation and couldn’t pack a painting. I did bring some USPS priority boxes to solve this problem. But shipping concerns really translates into that they didn’t want to spend the cash.

I brought a chair and a tarp. It was a good thing, because a thunderstorm came by. YOU WILL NEVER GET THINGS PUT AWAY FAST ENOUGH! Have the tarp open and ready so that you can put it over the fence and artwork when the wind starts, all in one motion. Try to get your chair under the tarp too. I didn’t and the seat got soaked! It did dry in the hot sun that followed. I also found that having plastic trash bags was a good idea. I used them under that edges of paintings that I set up against the fence on the wet grass. They are great for shopping bags too, but don’t think that you can quickly put paintings away before it rains!

I also priced my paintings low from the start to make sure I sold something to pay for my time. I made them all the same prices in two levels, so that I didn’t need any tags. High prices belong in galleries, not at a fence sale. So think wholesale and not ego sale!

The sunlight can be an issue at an outdoor sale. I prefer a Pop-Up canopy, but I couldn’t use one for this size space. The sun did shine through my canvases and added geometric “slat smoke stacks” to some of the images. I had to put plastic bags behind them to block the light. I recommend that you have something ready for backlight problems. A few of my paintings leaned forward some, so the lighting was different on them. I just adjusted the wire. I did find that adding a centered screw eye to the stretcher bar helped to hang some of the paintings to the wire “S” hooks provided by the gallery. They don’t slip or shift like a hanging wire does.

I always have sunscreen and bug spray with me for Plein Air sessions, so be sure to have them for an outdoor show like this too.  No, your can’t use “people repellent”! So if you don’t like people, don’t bother to set up at these shows. You will meet many people at a show like this, so be friendly and say thank you if they complement your work. Many did complement my work and it was nice to hear. You will also have people “re-paint” for you or ask questions about your techniques. I always share my secrets. Aren’t you reading them? Be prepared! I did have a painting get destroyed when a neighboring display easel collapsed and sent the corner of a large framed piece through a snowscape. It was a total loss. But, it is all part of the experience, so bring plenty of patience with you to share and have fun!

How to Paint in the “Plein Air”

I just did three acrylic on canvas 11” x 14” paintings at the Emile Gruppe Plein Air Festival in Jericho Center, Vermont. A great Thank You!! to the sponsors and the hard working people at the festival and gallery! It was a treat! I came away from this festival with some things to pass on to my fellow painters. I had the chance to visit with several artists and viewers and I was asked many questions. I will try to give you my thoughts on surviving a Plein Air experience.

First, prepare ahead. Paint on site somewhere, even if it is your own backyard, before to paint out for real. The problems will be obvious when you have to go into the house to get the things that you forgot. I have a list written on my French easel.

Things you will need for acrylic Plein Air painting:

Water, water container (cut open milk jug), waste water container. Some of these “paint outs” are “green” and you can’t dump water. A rag, a plastic cake pan with a snap lid, sun glasses, sunscreen, bug spray, a large hat or an umbrella, a chair, a box of paints with extra white. A spray bottle, small canvases, easel, brushes, pencil, digital camera, sketchbook, lunch, lots of water or drinks, business cards, plastic trash bags and patience. I also brought a plastic bucket to rinse out my brushes, but kept it in the car.

I did have a red hen walk around me when I was painting. She was making worried sounds and even  pecked at my equipment some. It can be distracting, but you may have bugs and birds and dogs to deal with too. First, walk around the painting site and look for shady spots to sit. Take your camera and take compositional photos to help you think. If you are a beginner, try to paint natural growing things and not complex buildings. Try to get a view with some sky. Skies can be simple and will fill a large chunk of the canvas. Look for high contrast views. Avoid busy flowers or tractors. If you are in the sun, you can wear sunglasses (the colors will change) but look over them to see the real colors of the paint. Paint in sections so that you can finish each before they dry. Put out small amounts of paint and only the immediate colors that you need for a section. Try to cover the canvas with the darks ahead of over painting. Keep things simple and concentrate on shapes and colors and add a little detail towards the end.  Before you paint, look at your photo on your camera. (Digital cameras are great and all of the old painters would have used them if they had had them!) You can take a lightened picture if you can’t see the view screen in the sun. Next, sketch out a map drawing of your composition. Look for large shapes to use as a guide. Watch where things hit the edges and try to keep things in scale. You will end up trying to paint the whole world, so paint a small section of your view.  I always lay in a wet sky first. (add a little water).You can use your easel to block out the left or right edge of your viewing area. DON”T move your head around when you are looking at the subject. Come back to the same point of view every time.!

When you layout your painting, don’t bother to draw much on the canvas. You will just cover the drawing up with paint, so use your sketch as a guide. Pick out your painting site with the weather and time of day in mind. You can paint in the sun in the morning, but you better find a shady spot for the afternoon sessions. Have fun!

 When you are living in a paint-by-number world you just learn to go with it. I did a few paint-by number oils as a kid, but I finished them quickly and I was a little “sloppy”. (That is me in 1961 in Upstate NY) I took the left over oils I had, and added them to the ones that were left over from my relatives and began painting on pieces of old bed sheets, that I pinned to a cardboard box. I started to make my own compostions, although a few were influenced by Jon Gnagy. Gnagy really did teach me to draw with his shows. I am now painting in a hotel room on the table. I never make excuses, I just paint. Vermont is truly full of the colors of my early paint-by-number paintings. I keep looking for the numbers, but there aren’t any.

Here we go!

I talked about brush care and what kind of brushes I like last time. I thought that it would be helpful to give a few everyday painter’s reminders (I may repeat myself, but it can’t hurt.). Dump, dump, dump that dirty water! If you don’t the painting will begin to turn muddy. Two buckets help, but paying attention is better. Paint the sky first when your palette is clean and so is the water bucket. I was just thinking about another pit that beginners dig for themselves. Monotony. Brush sizes do matter! I recommend that you try to use the largest brush you can when painting. Small brushes will not always give you the “random” leaf patterns that you need. You will tend to made things too clear in the distance using a smaller brush. People who use small brushes are often afraid on “commitment”. Save the small brush clarity for the foreground. I have seen students paint the entire scene using one brush! That is like using only one color. Switch to different sizes and types to create a variety of brush strokes. Painting books lie! Try any type of brush. Soon, you will have a family of “friendly” and “smart” brushes. I have done several nice paintings using a toothbrush and I have also done nice drawings of the human form using only a paper towel dipped in ink! Variety is extremely important. You don’t want to bore the viewer. Who wants to listen to the same song over and over on the radio? The longer you can hold the viewer’s attention, the more time they will have to write you a check! I am getting ready to paint another Oregon landscape. I love making the fresh strokes for the fir trees!