En Plein Air in Cape Elizabeth, Maine

     The image your about to see is not my best photo of an image I've ever taken, but certainly not the worst; however the photos of the actual site off the Atlantic coast in which I painted are not so bad, as they were taken from a camera phone.  Also the small composition sketch served its original purpose, as to which the final outcome of the actual oil painting I'm well pleased:

     I'm at the mercy of the public library, and the photo editor choice is between Paint and Gimp, Paint sucks and Gimp is beyond me.  So this is the best I can do today as I have a limited amount of time here.

     Whats really important to communicate in this post is my basic process of En Plein air, particularly the day last week which I painted this seascape.  In reverse order the photos are: but I arrive at the ocean front, pay my parking fee which is normally 5 dollars, but I bought a Maine State parks pass at $55 for the entire year.  This park was 2 Lights State Park in Cape Elizabeth, next time I'm going to go on top of an old military bunker and paint a view of Richmond Island from the view at Two Lights.

     Anyhow one of my missions this summer was to at least do 12 paintings in the surrounding State parks, that way I'll at least break even on the pass, good motivation I suppose; but back to my process, the short and sweet version as the accompanying pictures(again in reverse order) should be worth a thousand words:

     I set up my easel, scout the area for best placement of said easel, draw the composition I decide on, if it works then I snap a photo or two, if not I sketch another composition and finalize my easel placement once I'm satisfied w/ a composition, I then paint til I'm finished, snap more photos as I see fit, break camp and then go home...with a grand smile of accomplishment!  

    Then start the process all over again as soon as I'm able, It's already late August, and I still have 10 to go..lol!  Wish me luck;)