Lizzie (2006)

Memory of an afternoon

My first exposure to plein-air (fancy for, “Outdoors”) painting was in college. I took exactly two painting courses in my entire time at art school, before realizing those who knew how to draw and paint weren’t teaching painting (they were all teaching drawing). Go figure.

Anyway, my plein-air class was a once-per-week 6 hour affair. The instructor was a relatively young artist who did a lot of plein-air painting, but had a penchant for what is known as the ‘urban landscape.’ You know, going down to the industrial zones and painting factories, beat-up parked cars on the street, that sort of thing. It takes quite a talent to do that beautifully.