"Market Sunshine" Seattle city painting by Robin Weiss

"Market Sunshine"  30x40 oil on canvas   $3200

 

All the work has been turned in and the gallery hung and ready for the opening artists reception on Saturday, October 4th from 5 to 8pm. Hope to see you at Alki Arts in West Seattle for the opening of "Splendor" a group exhibition of the best fine, local and affordable art in Seattle. Come down and join the fun!  =]

I you are interested in this large 30x40 oil painting of Pike Place Market or any of the work at Alki Arts please contact gallery owner, Diane Venti at  206-295-5115

"View from Sunset" Edmonds plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"View from Sunset"  8x16 oil    $800
available through the Cole Gallery, Edmonds, WA
425-697-2787

 

This year I had the privilege of judging the Edmonds and Beyond Plein Air Paintout hosted by the Cole Gallery. Every plein air competition requires a judge of awards. It is not a job that artists jump to take on but it can be a very rewarding opportunity. It also gives you an insight in what it is like to be the one responsible for choosing eight paintings out of eighty works most of which are excellent.  Which should give you pause when criticizing the  judge in your next competition! Ha!  We will see how that works out...

I also did a few plein air paintings myself during the competition which are displayed at the Cole Gallery in Edmonds Washington. Stop by if you get the chance to see this stunning show of plein air paintings completed by artists from the area and around the country. 

"Morning Light" Whidbey Island plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Morning Light"  6x8 oil   SOLD

 

Last little early morning plein air painting wrapping up the 2025 Whidbey Island Plein Air competition. 

I sold two paintings at the Friday night awards reception.  Fellow artists and plein air buddies Kelly Bailey and Brook Borcherding walked away with well deserved, Best of Show and First Place awards . 

After we turned in our work it was time to relax with a little ping pong in the park and some hiking around the Island. 

I have already completed some studio paintings from photos and reference gathered during those hikes. I will be posting them soon.

Meanwhile getting ready for teaching a workshop at Bloedel  Reserve on Bainbridge Island , Sept 30th. There is still room for you!  =]  check out more info HERE

Also an upcoming group exhibition will be opening on October 4th at Alki Arts in West Seattle.  Come say hi and see an amazing show of local and affordable art!  =]

"Misty Morning" Whidbey Island plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Misty Morning"  10x12 oil on panel   $750

 

Wandered down to the little slice of rocky shore near our Air BnB with my coffee one foggy morning during the Whidbey Island Plein Air competition.  I felt the magic of the moment and scooted back for my gear.  I painted a larger studio interpretation recently. I'll post it soon. 

 

The rocks viewed through the water intrigued me and I tried to capture that transparency while keeping the water as a flat plane.

I figured if I could pull that off I could successfully finish the painting.

"Keystone Beach" Whidbey Island plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Keystone Beach"  9x14 oil on panel  $750

 

Keystone Ferry

Keystone is where the ferry docks on Whidbey Island from Port Townsend. It's the ferry I take to get there. If I didn't have this ferry I would be driving for about three hours or taking two other ferries. It is also it's own cool little location. There is a new restaurant opened in an old building shut down since covid. I had breakfast there and it was great!  Down the street a bit is the entrance to the park where the Admiralty Head Lighthouse is. (see earlier post) Next to the ferry dock across the inlet is a camp ground that has access to the beach in the painting above. I really enjoyed painting this beach!  After I was done I walked a long way in search of interesting beach rocks.

  

"Kayaks in Coupeville" Whidbey Island plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Kayaks in Coupeville"  6x12 oil on panel  $400

 

Three or five simple but interesting shapes. That's what you're looking for in a plein air painting. I think this painting is a good example. If you reduced this painting down to two values, black and white, you can do this by squinting..(something you should do a LOT in the field while painting) you will see everything in the shade as black and everything in the sun as white. Those shapes should be interesting. Go ahead, do a search on "Notan" and play around with black and white shapes in your sketch book...Oh, you don't have a sketch book?  Drop everything and go out and get one!  Or order one online. Or contact me and order one of  mine..  =]

A note about shadow shapes.  All the detail in the shadow shape should reside value wise in that shadow shape. I sounds easier than it is and you have to work on it.  The first step is understanding what I am saying here.  Again I think this painting is a good example of that. See the apparently "white closed umbrella on the deck that looks like a white sort of stick standing up in front of the awning?  It's not white paint!  But it looks white.  It "reads" white because it is a value within the shadow shape value. If I painted it with pure titanium white it would stick out like a sore thumb.  

"Field Apple" Whidbey Island plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Field Apple"   11x14 oil on panel   $800

In my quest to find subject matter that I haven't painted before during the Whidbey Island Plein Air competition I glanced over at the morning light hitting this old apple tree in the field by the sunflower farm and decided to go with it.  As I have recommended before, get one under your belt first thing. =]

While you are painting that first one you are also refreshing your pallet and finding that you have all the supplies you need like paper towels etc. and are set for the rest of the day.   

"Coupeville Wharf 2025" Whidbey Island plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Coupeville Wharf 2025"   SOLD

 

After many years of trying and rejecting Thalo Blue in my plein air pallet I finally think it is here to stay. Not sure if it is the result of my eyesight dimming or my color taste changing.. My wonderful eye doctor who has been taking good care of me for many years says I need the cataract surgery soon.. That may change things. I love the color I am able to achieve in the sky and water with just a tick of Thalo Blue in Titanium White. It is similar to the color you get with a tick of Viridian and White but more intense. 

I have painted the Coupeville wharf so many times during the Whidbey Island Plein Air that I have to title it with the year now.. Ha!  But they always seem to sell so I keep painting it!  Besides, the competition is always in August and it is usually HOT at least some days so tucking in down on the beach in the shade is a great way to beat the heat.  I ended up going down to the shade several times and did three paintings! 

The Whidbey competition was in August and since then a lot has been happening that I want to tell you about so stay tuned!   =]

"The River Slaney" Ireland plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"The River Slaney"  11x14 oil on panel  $800

 

There is a beautiful walking path that follows the River Slaney out of Enniscorthy. I walked about half a mile up the trail to find this location along the river to paint. There were artists all along the way enjoying a lovely June afternoon. For me, another moment in time to give thanks for the ability to pursue what I feel called to do in spreading the beauty of Gods creation to the world through art.

"The Stone Bridge at Enniscorthy" Ireland plein air painting by Robin weiss

"The Stone Bridge at Enniscorthy"  12x16 oil on panel  $800

 

Situated on the River Slaney, the second largest city in County Wexford and our third and last bus trip adventure. It was sad that we only had one day to explore Enniscorthy. There was so much here to see! 

plein air painter

The challenge in these competitions for many artists is to manage your time efficiently. In other words you want to be inspired by a new location and as you look around your artists eye sees all the possibilities for composition and design. There is always the hope that a better view is around the next bend.  You can spend your time walking around or driving around overwhelmed by all the beautiful scenes and never get a painting done. Better to set a time limit on scouting, find a spot near by that strikes your interest and get down to painting, at least for your first one. After you get one under your belt, while your still fresh, then scout a little further. I explored a little further to find this scene, maybe half an hour, but was glad I did!  The blooming wildflowers in the foreground clinched it for me!

You can barely see the castle in the upper right hand corner of the painting. Yes! There are many castles in Ireland! 

"Duncannon Beach" Ireland plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Duncannon Beach"  8x16 oil on panel   $800

 

My pattern of routine for Art in the Open was working great! By doing one painting in the morning and one in the afternoon I had just enough panels to make it through the week. The size of 11x14 or 8x16 were large enough to take about two hours if I took my time using a preliminary sketch and paid attention to value and detail in the under-painting.

This also allowed me to explore the town between paintings, have lunch at a local pub or restaurant and visit with the other artists painting on location.

The above painting of Duncannon Beach features the old fort above the cliffs built in 1588.  It was used as the location for the opening scenes in the 2002 remake of the Count of Monte Cristo staring Jim Caviezel and Richard Harris. It also has a rich history in the legends and stories of southern Ireland.

As the tide rolled rapidly in, some artists who started too far out on the sand got wet. Since I started late it was nice to be farther up past the tide line!

"Field at Duncannon" Ireland plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Field at Duncannon"  11x14  oil on panel  $800

 The third day of Art in the Open I was already getting used to the routine and headed for the train station to catch the bus with all the other artists. Our destination was Duncannon, another small village in southwest county Wexford. The weather got better and I found a spot near this field to capture the unique rural architecture of the houses with the ocean in the background.  I made friends with the donkey who lives in this field by feeding him apples from my lunch.

A little bit about how I packed for this trip:  In an effort to keep things simple I decided to bring two sizes of panels, six each of 8x16 and 11x14. I was allowed to hang two paintings in the competition exhibition at the end of the event and so I packed two frames, one 11x14 and one 8x16. along with hangers, a small screw driver and my framing pin nailer.  The frames were packed in a cardboard box that I custom made to securely hold the two frames and the panels. This box fit into one half of a large Amazon rolling suitcase I purchased for about $80. That left the other half for clothes and other stuff.

In Ireland you will need to pack rain gear and cool weather gear depending on when you go. If you go to Wexford you can actually buy a lot of the things you need in town at pretty good prices.

"Kilmore Quay" Ireland plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Kilmore Quay" 16x8 oil SOLD

This is the afternoon painting I did at Kilmore Quay which was one of the two paintings that I entered into the big exhibition at Glen Gallery. I didn't win any awards but the painting did sell at the exhibition.

In the afternoon when the wind and rain calmed down and the sun came out we were all seeking shade. I set up on the harbor landing with other artists in the shade of a large building. It was fun to see how the other artists interpreted the scene.  Bummed I didn't take more pictures of the other artists and the work they did!