On a sunny day last week, at a pond found off an unpaved road on Sauvie Island, I attempted plein air painting with oil paints and found some differences from my past experience with acrylics. Instead of fighting the paint drying too fast and becoming sticky, oil keeps on flowing. That makes for nice blending and subtle colors, but it's still wet when it's time to leave and must be handled carefully without smearing. Also I tried painting the tree foliage on top of the still wet blue sky, and it all blended together. I finished the two trees later in the studio, with some of the texture of earlier painting showing through. Oil paint goes on thick, with textured strokes. I managed to just get in the basics of the composition when the heat got to me, despite my hat and parasol, so I moved to a shady spot. But that's part of the adventure of plein air: heat or cold, rain, wind, bugs, and the unexpected! Sunny Spring Day on Sauvie Island is 11" x 14" on canvas board.
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