I bought a mobile (ish) easel and had my first stab at plein air painting and what a lesson it was!
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4238-scaled.jpg)
I picked a spot with a lot of interest (too much!) and got set-up… it was quite grey and I hoped it would be a quiet spot… how wrong I was!
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4237.jpg)
I bought myself an amazing steak pasty from just around the corner, steadied my nerves and got down to business.
I had put a bright orange wash on the panel to match my jumper!
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4241-scaled.jpg)
I think at this stage the water was done… I should have left it. Also never start at the bottom… but the tight Scot in me couldn’t stand wasting paint so used up what I had.
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4242-scaled.jpg)
The no.1 lesson in plein air painting is that conditions will change… and they defintely did.
The sun came out and everything got harder to be honest – especially the sun on the back of my neck!
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4244-scaled.jpg)
With the sun came the people! It was nice and daunting at the same time – people take interest and ask questions, usually just as you smudge something and make your painting worse it turns out!
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4249-688x1024.jpg)
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4245-scaled.jpg)
I’d given myself a four hour limit due to practical issues of not abandoning the family on holiday! And it turns out that four hours is not a long time!
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/9ED4E1B8-630A-4754-B93B-9621614653B5-scaled.jpg)
I was out of time, and stopped.
I am not “happy” with the painting, but I learned a lot. I am going to try again this weekend at a similar location nearby and try acrylic as I struggled with drying / smudging and muddying up my painting.
I think I could work up the panel into a nice little painting, but at the same time I think it should stand as it is as that was the day and the time.
![](https://neilwatsonart.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/IMG_4265.jpg)