Working in Watercolor

Painting outdoors has a rather tony French name, plein air. Most people connect that term with oil painting, but actually painting outdoors involves using virtually any kind of paint. Probably the most commonly-used outdoors has been watercolor. Certainly that's true for me. Watercolor is easy to transport, simple to set up and put away, gives the artist a record and information for later, and is quick and satisfying (mostly).

For the last several years watercolor has been my go-to paint outdoors, but I've also used gouache and casein outdoors. Each of the latter two dries so fast that it's a bit more difficult to use them, but they're also water-based, a real advantage. Oil painting outdoors means the painter not only is using a kind of paint that dries slowly, he also has to use a solvent like turpentine. I do own a French easel--a kind of paintbox with legs and an easel top--but it's heavy and bulky and therefore hard to carry around. In the end, it was watercolor for me for a long long while.

Back in 1999 we took an exploring trip to Rome, spending time in the ancient ruins and museums and revelling in the city and culture and food. Most trips we make I keep a journal, and in '99 was the first time I also did ink sketches and watercolors in the margins. A few full pages of that trip journal were devoted to a single ink and watercolor, like "Umbrella Pine" (left). We had gone to the Forum and spent time surveying the various sites of Roman history first, then hiked up the Palatine Hill where the heat of the Mediterranean day was eased by a cool breeze. It was easy to see why the elites of Rome built their houses and palaces there. At the time we went there was little to visit on the Palatine, so we sat and cooled off and I made the ink and watercolor painting in my journal.

"Schefflera Sunset," watercolor postcard ca. 2002

Another thing I enjoy on trips is painting and mailing postcards, like the one to the right. You can buy pads of watercolor paper in standard postcard sizes, which fit neatly in a pocket. I often carry a block of these and make watercolor sketches to mail home to family and friends. It's a great way to keep working and thinking even while vacationing or traveling for business. This particular postcard dates to twenty years or so ago, the original long since mailed and gone. It's one of the large-leaf umbrella plants I saw on a visit somewhere. The sun behind the leaves gave them a kind of corona that I wanted to capture.

"Taco Loco," ink and watercolor on paper, 5x9

My outdoor work in watercolor has been everything from gardens to vehicles to people. Not far from the Better Homes Test Garden I mentioned in another post is the Des Moines Sculpture Garden, where food trucks sometimes park. One of my particular favorites has been Taco Loco, whose dishes are yummy. One day at lunch I sat on a bench not far and sketched the truck. When the owner saw me he sent his wife over with a cold drink. Lovely folks.

"Color on Waterbury," 18x5

I am part of a sketch club that goes out together to draw and paint every Saturday afternoon (or did, until the pandemic arrived). The work to the right is a double page spread in one of my sketchbooks, the subject chosen for the bright fall colors. It was an early November day when we set out, and this step-wise view of brilliant foliage in bright slanting light drew my eye. Some of these watercolor sketches stand on their own and others are useful mostly as preliminary studies for eventual oil paintings.

The simplicity and ease of use of watercolor make it a real favorite. Anyone who wants to start working outdoors ought to give it a try.