A day in the life of a plein air artist

The Black Hills Plein Air Paint Out brought 20 artists to Hill City to capture the essence of the Hills on canvas in the fresh air and ever-changing weather of the Black Hills.

Plein Air literally means painting in the outdoors. Unlike studio art it requires artists to carry their easel, brushes, rags and such with them as they try to capture the spirit of a vista, landscape, scene or building.

“Plein Air painting is not for everybody,” said artist Sandy Newman from Rapid City. “You are fighting the elements, fighting bugs, fighting the sun, having to haul your equipment. But once it gets into your blood it’s hard not to do it.”

Newman began doing Plein Air in 2006 and fell in love with it.

“The colors are so much truer when you’re outside,” she said. “Photographs don’t tell the whole story.  And that story changes constantly when you’re painting outside.”

Newman said the vista she chose to paint, behind Black Hills Cabins at Quail Crossing, was one the cabin owner pointed out to her the night before when she had checked in.

“It was awesome,” she said when she saw it at 7 p.m.

“The light was different this morning,” she said as she stood on a bridge painting the landscape. Even then, she was “kind of disappointed” that some early morning storm clouds had already disappeared from the sky.

She talked about the lighting she saw on Palmer Gulch Road as she drove around the night before.

“It was perfect for (Black Elk Peak). It won’t ever be that way again,” detailing the true in the moment lifeblood of what it means to be a plein air artist.

Newman chose to focus her attention in her Quail Crossing work on the blue in the water of the creek, rather than the stunning vista of the hills behind.

“I love the blue in it. Even this morning the water is what I thought was so pretty.”

Newman admits Plein Air is not an exact science. 

“It has a mind of its own,” she said.

To dampen the hills she uses a deep purple, her concern not on matching the color per se but on having the water element stand out. 

“Green is not really my favorite color, so I vary the greens a little bit,” she said  as she added oranges and reds to her final painting. 

Hers began with a lot of rag techniques to get the landscape down quickly and not be too “fussy” with it. Then she moved to the brushes.

Her niece, Jayna Watson from Spearfish, was also at Quail Crossing painting a sunflower draped over a post and barbed wire. Again the pyramid hill in the background was not her focus. She began her piece by figuring out where the top of the flower blossoms wouldland on her canvas and dashing in roughly where each element will be. This gives her an idea where she’s going.

She does this with a pen, glancing back and forth from the canvas to the landscape for about 15 minutes. She then gets her brushes ready.

“What’s nice about oils is that you can cover up your boo boos,” she said as she began to dab her paint.

Both women are grateful that the HCAC took over the Plein Air event.

“I love being outside,” says Newman. “I love hearing the sounds and if the bugs aren’t biting and I have a shady space with a creek there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.”

The women sigh heavily and chuckle lightly when asked how they know when their painting is complete.

“When I look at it and say, ‘it’ll only make it worse,’” Watson said she knows her piece is complete.

Newman agrees.

“When you’re going backwards instead of forwards. It’s just an intuitive thing where you are like ‘that’s enough of that.’” 

Newman was this year’s Best in Show and People’s Choice award winner.