Painted:
May 20, 2010
6:00 pm
Painted on location, Goat Rock Beach, Jenner, California
Painted during week-long Sonoma Plein Air event.
Very windy.
Loud crashing surf.
My son gathered rocks and shells while I painted.

Water can be tricky to paint.  It is constantly moving and changing.  The trick is to observe the reoccuring patterns and paint that.  Don't try to capture a freeze frame rendering.  You want the water to look as if it is moving.  Once again, the key is observation.

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Painted:
May 20, 2010
9:20 am
Painted on location, a couple miles north of Jenner, California, during Sonoma Plein Air event.
Gusty winds.  Needed to pick sand out of the wet paint.

I am always impressd by the myriad of moods present in nature.  Different light and weather conditions can transform the same motif into something completely different.  It happens daily, sometimes hourly.  This painting was done the day after Coastal Rocks near the same location (they are the same rock formations seen from different angles).  Coastal Rocks was gray and rainy.  This day was sunny but very windy. 

To truly capture the multitude of moods nature has to offer, one must paint on location in all types of weather, all times of the year, and at all times of the day.  There is no substitute for experiencing nature while painting.  Being immersed in the time and place results in paintings with more clarity of mood and emotion. 

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Painted:
May 19, 2010
2:30 pm

Everything worth doing is worth doing right.  Don't take shortcuts.  You will only sell yourself short and be dissapointed in the outcome.  Whether in art or any other endeavor in life, things of true value require sacrifice and effort.
 
This painting is an example of that principle.  It would have been easy to just snap a photo and paint this scene in my dry studio.  But if I would have taken the easy way out, I would never have captured the subtle value and color shifts.  I would have missed the mood entirely.  But I chose to make the added effort to paint from life despite the rain.  From the knees down to my feet, I got quite wet from the thick grass and brush.  It was also fairly chilly, probably mid to upper 50's.  But, these seem like minor sacrifices.  I gave up comfort in exchange for capturing the mood of the scene as I experienced it. 

Painted on location, a couple miles north of Jenner, California.
Painted during a week-long Sonoma Plein Air event.
Light, but steady rain.  Yet, somehow calm and peaceful.  Sublime.

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May 19, 2010
10:50 am
Painted on location, Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve
Guerneville, California
Painted during week-long Sonoma Plein Air Event
Lightly raining.  Forest interior provided some shelter from rain.
The mood was quiet, peaceful, and contemplative.

On our way to the coast, we stopped at Guerneville to get a new windshield wiper.  The gentleman in the store suggested we go to the Armstrong Redwoods Reserve.  I am glad we did.  My son and I walked the nature trail in this spectacular spot.  We felt small beneath these towering giants.  We were in awe.  We were about to leave, when I decided to go back and paint.  This is my son's favorite painting from our trip to California.

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Painted:
May 18, 2010
2:15 pm

Painted on location, Grove Rd, in the hills west of Sonoma, California
Painted during the week-long Sonoma Plein Air Event
Interesting shapes and values.
Partly cloudy, shifting light.

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An Interview with Nature:
An Artist’s Yearlong Sojourn en Plein Air

By

Keith Bond


Plein air work (painting on location) has always been an important part of my art. Most of my plein air paintings, however, have served as studies for my more ambitious studio works.   For the next year, I will devote more time painting right at the source of my inspiration. I will paint nearly every day en plein air. I will continue to do some studio works as well, but I plan to make my plein air work a major priority this year. 


Cottonwood Hollow Spring, by Keith Bond, 9 x 12

Reasons for the Project

I am excited for this project for several reasons. It is in part for personal artistic growth. Greater understanding and appreciation for nature is another reason. Simply being out in the landscape that I love so much is yet another reason. Finally, many of you comment that you wish I offered more plein air works for purchase.

Spontaneity and Expressive Qualities of Plein Air

Many collectors enjoy the spontaneity of these works. They are less refined, but are very revealing of my thought and work process. They are collectable as the most expressive of my works. Plein air paintings are painted in direct response to my emotional connection to nature. They are painted by inspiration, quickly, deliberately, and with economy of detail.

Benefits of Plein Air

Since nature is where my inspiration flows more freely, it makes sense to spend more time communing with nature. As I paint, I wish to know the mysteries of nature. I explore and study and observe. I ponder, I question. I seek truth and understanding; both in the laws of nature and in our relationship to her. It is a quest to connect more deeply with her, which will enable me to better express my awe and fascination with her infinite beauty and moods.

An Interview with Nature

Thus, while painting, I am seeking understanding. It is an interview with nature. I ask her questions. Slowly she reveals herself to me. She gives me only a few insights at a time, asking that I truthfully represent her. Later she will allow me to understand more. It is a lifelong relationship. 

Coastal Rocks, by Keith Bond, 9 x 12

Project Details

I will paint on location nearly every working day. Some paintings will not turn out so well, but many will become gems. The successful paintings will be posted on my website and blog. They will be available for purchase almost exclusively through Keith Bond Fine Art. 

At the end of the yearlong project there will be a public exhibit and hopefully an accompanying book. If you are interested in being notified as these plein air paintings become available for sale, send me an email or telephone me at (435) 512-0247. 

 
Harp Vineyards, by Keith Bond, 9 x 12

Painted on location near Safford, Arizona, March 2010.

I am embarking on a year-long plein air project entitled An Interview With Nature.  I intended to begin the project in March, but other circumstances caused me to delay the project in earnest until May.  I decided to include this painting, though, because I liked it so much.

Drove down a BLM dirt road among the poppies for nearly 8 miles.  The poppies stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions for the entire drive.  Some patches thicker than others, but golden flowers colored a huge area of the landscape.

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  The Divine Proportion

By

Keith Bond

 I find it interesting how a single number has had such tremendous influence on me that it has opened my mind to a new way of thinking and a new way of seeing the world. I am not alone in this fascination with a number. Throughout history, many have discovered the mysteriousness of the number Phi. 

Recently, I have been reading a book about Phi entitled The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio. A while back, artist Skip Whitcomb turned me on to a study of Phi and encouraged me to consider using it to develop my compositions. Also known as the Golden Ratio, the Divine Proportion, the Golden Section, and the Golden Number, Phi is fascinating in both its unique mathematical properties and its manifestations in countless diverse places. It, along with closely related Fibonacci numbers, can be found in the patterns of a sunflower, the pedal arrangement of the rose, mollusk shells, and in the Milky Way. It is abundantly found in nature. With great aesthetic appeal, many artists, architects, musicians, and others throughout history have used it to their advantage. 

I won’t bore you with a discourse on Phi. If you want to learn about it, check out a few books on the subject. 

However, it has been so enlightening to me that I decided to share with you the growth I am seeing in my artwork. My compositions are becoming stronger and more dynamic as a result of using the ratios inherent with Phi. I now use the Golden Section to determine the placement of the major elements of the composition. I divide up my canvas based Phi. My center of interest in a painting is now placed on the Golden Section or at a derivative of it. I don’t want the work to look mechanical, but rather harmoniously pleasing to the eye. I want the compositions to look natural. 

I used to compose my paintings more intuitively.  I did what ‘felt’ right.  Looking back at older compositions, I find that many are coincidentally close to Phi. Some aren’t. I do realize that this won’t guarantee a stronger painting. It is however another tool I can put in my toolbox. 

So profound are the possibilities that it will likely take a lifetime of study to even partially incorporate them into my artwork. Most of what I have learned still needs to be sifted through. And there is more still to be learned. It is a wonderful road of discovery, experimentation, and artistic growth.

Sincerely,

Keith Bond

PS. As the most irrational of all irrational numbers, I am intrigued by the prevalence of Phi in the natural world. This number, which is farthest of any number from being expressible by a fraction, has qualities which make it far from random. There is order to it. It supports my firm belief that what may appear to our limited, finite minds as chaos is governed by a higher law which we don’t understand.