Virtual Plein Air with DIS Plein Air Club

I have had so much fun the past two weekends with the In - Studio 'Virtual Plein Air' outings.
First, the idea of plein air painting,  while simultaneously wearing slippers and sipping coffee, just thrills me.
Mororboat importantly,  I am able to paint from the comfort of my studio, while simultaneously sharing the conversation, feedback, and camaraderie with my fellow artists.
I find we talk more 'while painting - in the virtual outings. I'm sure it's because when we are out in the field, we are usually close enough to shout, but not to hold an extended conversation.
I have been working traditionally,  while some of the participants are working digitally.
Here are some samples from the first two outings.

Wisdom and advice from Moebius

Wow.  I love this quote from Moebius:
"The compositions in our stories should be studied because a page or a painting or a panel is a face that looks at the reader and speaks to him."

Here is the full artcle:
http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/moebius-gives-18-wisdom-filled-tips-to-aspiring-artists-1996.html

Generating new ideas

I watched a great video by Scott Robertson - for the second time.

Here
In this video, he discusses the differences between sketching and illustrating. The main difference is that in illustration, you are focused on creating a nice looking piece; whereas when sketching, you're looking to get the idea down.  You may flesh it out a bit - and you always want to do the beat drawing possible, but if you're too focused on creating a pretty drawing, the idea tends to suffer. The two thought processes are completely different.

I realized that in order to do the final work that I desire, I need to generate better ideas. To stay focused in the idea thinking mode, I need to use the, appropriate tools- ones that allow me to work quickly, get the idea down. Tools that allow for delicate rendering tend to sidetrack the sketch.

So I picked up the pen again, and got to work.  And I kept working until the page was full. And when that was full, I went to a new page.