Pastelist Brenda Boylan is a veteran of the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE), and this year, she plans on sharing her street-smart tips for painting urban scenes. Such as?
Boylan doesn’t want to give too much away — she wants to save some things for PACE, which will be held in San Diego, California, in April. But she will strongly recommend that plein air painters working on a cityscape avoid wearing earphones, no matter how annoying the sound of trucks, traffic, and passersby may be. “You need to be entirely aware of your surroundings,” says Boylan. “The noises can be extremely distracting — it’s not for everyone.”
Still, Boylan enjoys painting urban scenes … even when some of her subject matter up and leaves. “Yes, remember that trucks and people are constantly moving,” says the Portland artist. “If you really want that car, paint it in. Paint the thing that is most likely to move first.”
Boylan also recommends always painting with a buddy, and consider somehow obtaining traffic cones to urge vehicles to slow down when passing you. “It’s for safety,” says Boylan. “People see the cones and think there’s really important work going on, and yeah, there is. It puts out the word that something is going on here, so slow down.” And finally, she simply says, “Expect the unexpected.”
She knows what to expect at the Plein Air Convention, even though it changes every year, both because of new faculty and because the organizers are constantly improving aspects of it. Boylan has gone to PACE four times previously, and she looks forward to seeing her “big family” again.
“You make really good friends because everybody is speaking the same language,” she says. “I go back for the people, honestly, but the learning is exceptional. There are always some vendors that you didn’t know about before. I found a company that helped me figure out how to archive my artwork. I bought their system, and it’s been great. Stuff like that, you wouldn’t even know you need, but makes you able to be more creative. Bring an extra suitcase for anything you might buy!”
“You learn, and then you try. You paint every day—you are bursting to go out and paint.”
Boylan will be teaching at the Plein Air Convention & Expo, which will be held April 24-28 in San Diego, California. Have you seen the list of faculty members that will be instructing participants? It also includes Jeremy Lipking, Quang Ho, James Gurney, Charlie Hunter, and dozens more. The convention is already almost 90 percent filled. Go here to learn more and to register for PACE.
