Plein Air Camping

I love plein air camping! Our valley painting group traveled to Central Oregon Tues. & Wed. this week and painted at Smith Rocks one day and on the Metolius River the next. What a treat! Took the Hub and daughter along and they had epic hiking around Smith Rocks while I painted in the shade of a scrubby tree on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Crooked River. I had 4 visitors while working---another artist friend, a couple checking out the view and a cute little chipmunk! It was a real challange painting the rocks---the shadows changed so much from the noon start to my quitting time of 2:30---the photo shown is from the 2:30 time---much more interesting than the flat light at noon---I plan to add some of those great shadows eventually.





Below shows a lot of the great work the other artists did while there that day---my pastel is the 4th from the right on the black easel with two others below on the ground.



That night we camped on the Metolius River, and I expected the next day to go out in the car in search of the perfect painting site before realizing I was already there! This view was right next to our campsite looking south. It was so great to just set up and go to work without having to waste time hunting for something else + I then was able to hang with my camping pals who were happy to sit around the campfire sipping coffee, feeding bread bits to the chipmunks, and cooking & sharing hot dog bites!



I'm real pleased with my painting---it came together so easily, and the lighting was fabulous. The sun did move behind my trees eventually, changing the foreground shadows completely so I'm hoping to finish that part still. I also plan to add the fly fisherman that showed up as I was beginning my painting---I took several digital photos of him as he cast his line, but he left before I got to painting the river so wasn't able to add him while there.





Later that day we hiked in to see this amazing springs just roaring out of the opposite bank on the Metolius River---the Hub shot 4 panorama pics which I was able to merge in Adobe Photo Elements---All in all a terrific experience with the family!