Plein Air Painting: Take the Time!

We had just 49 minutes after attendance was taken. Walking to the duck pond was 7 minutes each way at a brisk clip. Two minutes were sucked up by the pond water minus pond muck demonstration. Then a minute each was spent pointing out the park boundaries and reminding students to use all four techniques learned the previous day: ink with watercolor wash, tissue lift for clouds, wet on wet and dry brush for plants and details. Oh, and passing out paint boxes, paper, sharpies, tissue and water cups ate up at least three minutes.
But by 8:27 a.m. we were painting golden spring light, ducks on the pond and lacy new greenery. Laughter echoed across the pond as students dipped cups past green scum to the somewhat clear water beneath. Painting outdoors, as the impressionists knew, was time well spent really seeing the light. There were some muddy jeans and my feet were sore by the end of my fourth class trip, but a good time was had by all.

7th grader, Hannah, makes her initial line drawing with an ultra fine point sharpie (top). To the right is her finished painting.