 |
| Sunset Hamilton Harbour |
It’s 6pm and the sun is sliding rapidly towards the horizon. I head out with my gear to catch the technicolor, show of light which is about to begin. Painting sunsets is like trying to catch a butterfly. Fleeting is the word that comes to mind. As we observe nature first hand, we are basically “painting light”… or the effects of light on the landscape.
Anyway, last week was the Bermuda Plein Air Festival and I was just one of 50 artists on the island, trying to capture that elusive impression. After a week of painting, friendship and sunburns we were ready to show the world our efforts. The exhibit was hung and the wine flowed at the Bermuda Society of the Arts in Hamilton. The judges seemed determined to give me the Best Oil painting award so I had no choice but to accept. I’m being deliberately, self-deprecating in case you missed that. I was THRILLED!
 |
| Best Oil Award "Ely's Harbour" Collection of Michael Harding |
Anyway, last week was the Bermuda Plein Air Festival and I was just one of 50 artists on the island, trying to capture that elusive impression. After a week of painting, friendship and sunburns we were ready to show the world our efforts. The exhibit was hung and the wine flowed at the Bermuda Society of the Arts in Hamilton. The judges seemed determined to give me the Best Oil painting award so I had no choice but to accept. I’m being deliberately, self-deprecating in case you missed that. I was THRILLED!
 |
| Opening Reception at The Bermuda Society of the Arts |
But back to my sunset… here are a few tips to help make a successful painting:
• Get there early to set up, and sketch in the big shapes of the landscape. Create a notan or abstract design pattern of light and dark in the clouds. Compress your values into 3 general tones; light, halftone and shadow.
• Use a light that attaches to your easel to see your canvas and your palette as the light fades. You can also stand under a source of light such as a street lamp.
• Make the value of the sun lighter than the surrounding sky.
• Push temperature contrasts; to make the brilliant colors of a sunset stand out, you need to control the saturation of the background sky.
 |
| Painting at Southcote, Bailey's Bay |
“Realism is not based on the way things are,
but upon things as you see and feel them.” - Charles Woodbury
 |
| St. George's Bermuda |
Plein air painting is hard… but I think it’s supposed to be. People often say to me “painting must be very relaxing.” And my response is always “if you’re relaxed then you’re doing it wrong.” Painting is like solving a puzzle, where disparate elements come together to create a whole. As artists we’re meant to be astute documentarians of the world around us. Not in the mindless copying in mosaic of all we see - but a fresh vision uniquely our own. It’s the invisible something in a painting which makes it good.
 |
| The participating artists at Coco Reefs Hotel |
About the Bermuda Plein Air Festival:
Historically Bermuda has been a popular plein air destination; Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and Georgia O’Keeffe have all found inspiration here. The Festival is organized by the Plein Air Painters of Bermuda and supported by a number of organizations such at the The Bermuda Arts Center at Dockyard and the Bermuda Department of Tourism.
Historically Bermuda has been a popular plein air destination; Winslow Homer, Andrew Wyeth, and Georgia O’Keeffe have all found inspiration here. The Festival is organized by the Plein Air Painters of Bermuda and supported by a number of organizations such at the The Bermuda Arts Center at Dockyard and the Bermuda Department of Tourism.
