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Rios Trailhead at San Elijo Lagoon

Ronald Lee Oliver

Saturday, October 1, 2016

San Diego has some great places for the plein air painter to park their easel and capture the beauty of nature with brush and paint.

One of the best places in the county is the nature reserve at San Elijo Lagoon, between Solana Beach and Encinitas. The lagoon and tidal estuaries meander East to West from the inlet at the coast. The tidal flow extends inland for almost two miles, flowing under the I5 Freeway before eventually ebbing to a stop in Rancho Santa Fe.  I painted at a place along the Rios Avenue Trail, which is on the Southwest side of the Lagoon, on a peaceful, foggy, October morning. I can recommend the many locations at the lagoon as a places one could return to again and again and find something new to paint, each time.

Here are some photos and video I took to share with you. You’ll also see my completed painting at the bottom of this post.

A panoramic view of the Rios Trailhead at San Elijo Lagoon.
A panoramic view of the Rios Trailhead, looking East at San Elijo Lagoon.

Birds and jumping fish break the stillness now and again…

Lifting fog on a mild October morning.
Lifting fog on a mild October morning.

Here’s a short video that gives a 360 view.

Here is the painting after about an hour and a half of painting, when I decided to take it home.  I made a few small touches and corrections back in the studio.

16x20 Rios Trail at San Elijo
16×20 Rios Trail at San Elijo

…and here is the finished piece, “Rios Trail at San Elijo”

Ronald Lee Oliver
Rios Trail at San Elijo Lagoon, 16×20 oil on panel

 

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Oliver #Pleinair Paintings Showing at Solana Beach Library

Four of my San Diego plein air paintings are showing at the Solana Beach Library in Encinitas.  The art will be on site June 11th through August 3rd, 2016. There is a reception open to all on Saturday, July 16th at 2:00 to 4:00pm.

All four paintings are plein air works, in 16×20 inch landscape format.  Each is identically framed in solid wood with dark, espresso color, red distressed undertones and a gold liner.  They look very elegant in these frames!  Click on an image in the slideshow below to learn more about that painting and to see larger images.

Santa Inez at San Elijo, San Diego plein air painting by artist Ronald Lee Oliver.San Elijo Morning, San Diego plein air painting by artist Ronald Lee Oliver.Batiquitos Clearing, San Diego plein air painting by artist Ronald Lee Oliver.Pala Valley below Palomar, San Diego plein air painting by artist Ronald Lee Oliver.

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Five Plein Air Painting Tips for the Beginning Plein Air Painter

The act of plein air painting is an acquired taste.

Many artists see plein air painters at their easels in the open air, capturing the light and essence of a beautiful, natural scene before them and think, “I will do that some day!”

Little do they know that painting in the open air has its own specific challenges that make it much different from attacking a canvas in the relative comfort and the steady, even lighting of their studio.  Still, plein air painting can be very rewarding for the creative soul and is well worth the effort to develop some proficiency in it as an art.  Following are five “tips” for the beginning plein air painting admirer that just may help them become a plein air aficionado.

1.)  Start small.

It is far easier to manage a small canvas and a small kit when a beginner, rather than diving in to tackle large canvasses or elaborate outdoor easels. When beginning, you are testing the waters and it makes sense to keep it simple to find if plein air is the right avenue for you. Expensive kits and brushes are not necessary to start.   An inexpensive half box french easel and 6×8 in. canvas panels or hard boards and a cheap set of hog bristle, long-handled brushes are a good beginning.

2.) Use artist grade paints.

Student grade paints will cause more frustration than learning as a beginner.  They have difficult consistency and do not mix or thin well as artist grade paints do. There are some very good quality artist grade oil paints, such as Gamblin and Rembrandt that are reasonably priced.

3.) Use a limited palette.

A split-primary palette is a good palette for the plein air painter (even for the seasoned veteran). A split primary consists of a  both a warm and cool, single pigment choice for the three primary colors–Red, Yellow and Blue.  Add a black, yellow ochre, and transparent red oxide and you have a very good start with only 9 colors and of course titanium white. Later on, you may wish to expand your palette with some specialty or convenience colors.  Learn what the symbols and numbers mean on the paint tubes.  There is much to learn about pigment properties such as transparency, light fastness, and mixing qualities.

4.)  Composition is half the battle.

A poorly composed painting, no matter how adroitly painted, will read as a failure.  Read up or web search for terms such as “rule of thirds,” “the golden section,” “avoiding tangents,” “focal points,” “lost and hard edges” among others.  It’s always good to have a “center of interest” in your composition but that certainly doesn’t mean it should be plopped dead center in your canvas, which is generally the wrong thing to do.  Avoid placing elements along the side of the frame or bisected by the outer perimeter of your composition.  And finally, remember…rules are meant to be broken but break them consciously and for good reason, rather than by accident.

5.)  Consider water mixable.

As a beginner, you have the opportunity to forego the hazards and hassles of working with oils and solvents with your paints.   There are some excellent water mixable oil paints that will allow you to make professional quality paintings that cannot be distinguished from those made with the traditional oil and solvent media.  Cobra and Holbein are two brands with good reviews for water mixable.  They also offer water mixable mediums and impasto gels.  As a beginner it may make sense to commit to learning and working from the beginning, with the water mixable products, rather than delve into the world of mineral spirits and turpentine.

These are just a few sound pieces of advice for the beginner who is enchanted by the sight of a painter standing at an easel in the open air of a natural scene.  That’s where it begins…with the will to do, to be, to create outdoors at an easel–making the first steps to acquire your “kit,” then actually taking it to an inspiring place and taking the leap.  There is a great deal to learn, but it is “so worth” every minute you will spend painting “en plein air!”

 

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San Diego Plein air at San Elijo Lagoon

San Elijo Morning ~ San Diego plein air painting with studio finish by Ronald Lee Oliver

San Diego has some great places for a plein air painter to set up their easel and create fantastic landscape art.  One of my personal favorite places to paint en plein air (a French term that is universally used to describe the process of painting at an easel in the open air to capture a sense of light and place) is at the San Elijo Lagoon Interpretive Center.  There is a very well maintained trail and boardwalk that puts the painter in a beautiful setting with a minimal amount of hiking effort.

Here’s a video I took, early on the spectacular April morning of this plein air outing.  You can see my easel, parked and ready to go–the 20×16 inch canvas, primed with a purple-grey undertone.

It really is such a wonderful place to paint, the problem is in selecting a composition from the many choices presented.  An interesting sinuous pattern created by the meandering estuary caught my eye and I decided to park my easel to find a composition that included it.

Ronald Lee Oliver plein air easel

I focused on a particular part of the view that I thought would make for a pleasing result…

Selecting a Composition

Of course, I did’t paint exactly what is in the framing box above, because while it is a pretty view, it is a photograph and not a painting. As an artist painter, I have license to arrange and to subdue or emphasize elements to fit my impressionistic depiction as I choose to frame it on the canvas.  It is this personal expression of omission or embellishment that makes painting an impressionist art, and not a craft.  Another artist, standing next to me, would bring their own interpretation to the very same view and create an image entirely their own.  Successfully finding this balance between representation and impression is the great joy and challenge of painting in the open air.

Here is how the painting looked when I decided to stop, take it home, ponder it for a few days and finish in studio.

San Elijo Morning ~work in progress

…and here is the painting after several days of rumination and the finish in the studio.

San Elijo Morning ~ 20×16 in. oil on canvas by Ronald Lee Oliver

San Elijo Morning 20x16 in. plein air by Ronald Lee Oliver
San Elijo Morning ~ 20×16 in. plein air by Ronald Lee Oliver

 

 

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A Journey in Artistic Growth

Ron "en Plein air"
Ron “en Plein air”

My goal as an artist is to strive toward continual growth in my craft and the ability to express my appreciation for the beautiful places I’ve been so privileged to experience and enjoy. This artistic journey will end at my last breath, yet beyond this I hope my paintings will share some essence of the joy in spirit and gratitude I’ve been blessed with by our creator for this brief lifetime.

Read on, in the chronology of this journey below, or have a look at my online portfolio by using the menu at the top of each page.

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Working Swiftly in Plein Air Painting ~ San Elijo Lagoon

An evening plein air painting at San Elijo Lagoon
An evening plein air painting at San Elijo Lagoon 11×14 in. oil on panel

One of the challenges of plein air painting is working within a limited budget of time. The interplay of a moving sun and fleeting clouds make swift work integral to capturing the scene.  A changing scene may force the painter to work from memory, which is not as accurate as direct observation.  And after all, really, who has the stamina (or is it the lunacy?) to paint for hours out in the elements?  Thank goodness, most of my plein air painting sessions finish in under two hours, before I can become dehydrated and sunburnt.  I completed this 11×14 inch plein air painting of San Elijo Lagoon in about an hour and a half. Having a pre-toned (a neutral gray) substrate helped the work to go quickly because there was no “white space” to cover and the toned background filled in the gaps in the superseding paint layers.

My goal in painting in plein air is not to make a photo-realistic depiction of the scene but rather to suggest something truthful, with expression but that also looks good when framed and hung on a wall.  Plein air painting provides the added benefit of being stretched by new challenges but also keeping the “chops” tuned for studio work.

The San Elijo lagoon and nature center is one of the great places in San Diego to visit at twilight. Either early in the morning or in the evening before sunset, hiking the well maintained trails and boardwalk there is a peaceful and fascinating experience.  You will see the play of the wind on the surface of the tidal waters and the fronds of the grasses in the marsh.  Reflections of light, dance, shimmer and change with each breath of wind. The silence is ocassionally broken by the cry of foraging birds or the sudden splash of fish jumping out of the water.

San Elijo Evening 11×14 oil on panel

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by San Diego Plein Air Painter, Ronald Lee Oliver

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Padre Dam Plein Air Outing

Padre Dam is the first Dam built in California by Catholic Missionaries.
Padre Dam is the first Dam built in California by Catholic Missionaries.

San Diego has a past that is inextricably linked with the Spanish colonization and works of the Catholic Missionaries that established the first outposts of Western Civilization on the American continent.  In Santee, California, about five miles from Lakeside, CA where I live,  is the site of the first water collection system created by the Spanish Missionaries.  Known as “Padre Dam,” it is now a ruin that is part of the Mission Trails Regional Park system. This dam provided water for agriculture which supported the established Mission de Alcala, about three miles to the West, where the missionaries and the indigenous people interfaced.

The dam, with its water and pools makes a picturesque subject and provides some green relief in this long period of drought we’ve had in Southern California.  Even in the hottest part of this dry year, there is still a trickle of water that flows here in the San Diego River–a river that originates in the Laguna Mountains that rise to just over 6000 feet, some 25 miles to the East.

This plein air painting was finished early in the morning while the air was still cool and the shadows were long.  The temperatures rose above 100 degrees fahrenheit later in the day and it was good to finish this 11 x 14 inch panel before it became truly miserable.

I painted quickly to capture the colors and light of the moment, as well as a sense of place.

I’m quite happy with the result.