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| Join David Rankin in May as he sends field reports directly from the headwaters of the Ganges river in the foothills of the Himalayas.
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David James Rankin
SAA, AFC, OWS
Transparent & Plein Air Watercolors - Birds, Tigers, India, |
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Plein Air Honda
I bought this Honda Element specifically because of the way the inside of the car was designed. It allows me to sit "yoga-style" in the back with the tail-gate down. I spread out my gear the same way I do sitting on the ground. But it's much more comfortable. The hatch creates an overhead sunblock. My wife can read or even power up her laptop from the power outlets. This car was made for plein air painters like me who love to explore and paint directly from Nature. The 4-wheel drive and high suspension allowed me to gingerly drive 2 hours up a rugged fire trail on the borders of Yellowstone National Park to paint a vista from well over 10,000 in the back country.
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David Rankin Painting on Location
"Most of my paintings depend upon my field work either directly or indirectly. I am constantly looking for subjects to sketch & paint. And the most creative and satisfying work I do is on location. Painting "en Plein Aire" has become a big deal these days. It's almost as though this has just come into vogue, when in fact this tradition of working on location directly from Nature goes back 200-300 years in watercolor.
I think it's because so many painters have become "studio bound", or they work abstractly. But for me, I get stale working in my studio all the time. I need the immediacy of landscapes bathed in fleeting morning light or fading evening light. I take photographs, sketch, and paint on location as much and as frequently as I can. It's the bedrock of my creative process. What may be a bit different about the way I work on location is that I normally sit cross-legged, yoga style, on the ground rather than using an easle and standing. I've practiced yoga for nearly 40 years so it's very comfortable for me to sit like this. In addition, it affords me a great working ability to have my paints, sketchbook, watercolor blocks, etc. all around me. I normally use at least 2 watercolor blocks at a time when working on location. I usually then develop 2 different images at a time. This practice allows me to keep working as one painting needs to dry, I simply switch to working on the other.
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