First Waxahachie Plein Air attempt, May 28, 2010

Waxahachie 401 E Marvin

The first day of the Paint Historic Waxahachie plein air event is in the books.  Eight days to go!  The sun was bright, and though I got rained on for five minutes, the exercise was rewarding.  This is a 9 x 12″ sketch that I worked on for two hours.  I felt quite rusty, and had a great deal of trouble drawing and redrawing the architecture (I failed to bring along a straightedge!).  But, once I got to the painting portion, I settled into it and didn’t realize how much time had passed.  I had to close up my outdoor shop early, because I had an art reception to attend that was 30 minutes north on the freeway.  Glad I went–I took second place in the watercolor division.  I’ll post that one separately.

I am bone-tired.  Rose at 5:00 and went with my wife to doctor her sick horse.  Then to high school for a day.  Then to Waxahachie to paint.  Then to Hillsboro to the art reception.  Now I’m going to finish these blogs, and get ready for bed.  It’s already nearing 8:30 and I have to rise early for tomorrow’s official opening of the plein festival with a 90-minute “Quick Draw” competition.

Thanks for reading!

Tags: Americana, drybrush, Edward Hopper, field painting, French Impressionism, Historic homes, nostalgia, plein air, Proust, Remembrance of Things Past, small town, Texas, watercolor, Waxahachie Texas, Winslow Homer