Watercolor – In The Truest Sense Of The Word

Artists have always been inspired by what nature has to offer. Some take their inspirations back to the studio; but many take their studio outdoors and work ‘en plein air’ – a French term meaning in the open air.

Painting plein air is not without its challenges. If you’ve spent any time in lake country, you’ll be familiar with many of them.

Changeable weather can bring searing heat, strong winds and pounding rain all in the same day. Horseflies and mosquitoes can take a serious bite out of your concentration. And, squirrels (but hopefully not bears) can be determined to see what your backpack holds by way of lunch.

On a summer visit to lake country, I tempted the plein air fates even further by taking my paints and sketchbook to the water in a kayak. My subject was one of the bungalows at Kapasiwin on Wakesiu Lake.

It’s one thing to set yourself up on land to sketch what interests you. It’s quite another to capture an image that keeps drifting out of sight.

With the action of the waves, I found that every five minutes I had to paddle myself off the shoreline rocks or sandy beach and back to where I’d started sketching. Watching out for other boaters and dealing with the wake of powerboats meant I was eyeing more than the scenery.