A peek at Andy Evansen’s plein air painting journey at Lake Tahoe, where he navigated the challenge of simplifying breathtaking vistas and capturing the lake’s vibrant colors.
“Coming from southern Minnesota, where the landscape is mostly rolling hills and farmland, the vistas at Lake Tahoe were visually overwhelming,” Andy said. “I found it difficult to find “simple” compositions that would work for plein air. I always harp on my students to edit and “zoom in” when choosing subjects outdoors, but when you’re confronted with so much natural beauty and towering vistas, that can be quite a challenge. To start, I had to work out whether I should paint vertically, in order to capture the towering trees and mountainside, or horizontally to capture as much of the wide open view as possible.
“Otherwise, I didn’t need to change my approach or palette for this trip, although the variety of colors in the lake did make things a bit tricky. In my painting “Down at the Lake” (above) you can see that I had to paint warm reflections of rocks and use vibrant green, turquoise, blue, and violet at different points.
“I enjoyed exploring the area with the goal of finding good painting subjects and not simply pretty views. We managed to find some lovely spots with enough inspiration for everyone in the group I was with. [The group included Stephen Quiller, Ratindra Das, Jean Pederson, Barbara Nechis, John Salminen, Kathleen Conover, Mark Mehaffey, and Mary Whyte; all invited by Zhang Xiaochang to paint in north Lake Tahoe one summer.]
“Sharing our work at the end of the day over a cocktail (or two) was the cherry on top. It’s always a treat to paint with a group of friends, particularly a group such as this — where all the members are so accomplished and paint with a wide variety of styles and approaches.”
Editor’s Note: Don’t miss your opportunity to create lifetime memories at the 12th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE). The next one is May 19-23, 2025 in Lake Tahoe and Reno!
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