Plein Air Painting In Sarasota Bay on a Windy Day

Windy Day
Acrylic on panel, 8x6

This is a plein air painting of sailboats in Sarasota Bay that I did when I was switching back and forth between oils and acrylics.  I used a lot of gloss medium to keep the paint flowing.  This was before I tried the Golden Open Acrylics, which are much better for plein air than the regular acrylics because they dry slowly.  I was very interested in the reflections of the blue water onto the white boats, and the feeling of the wind.  I like painting better than photography because I find it easier to emphasize certain qualities of a scene that I find the most inspiring, instead of making an objective copy.  I find that the biggest challenge of plein air is to make an interpretive, personal, and expressive painting rather than merely copying reality as if I were a photographer.  I realize that many people who don't look at a lot are impressed with the skill of artists who can make it look "just like a photograph."  I think seeing so much photography has made the public expect to see a photographic look rather than a work of art.  Fortunately, some people like a more poetic impression when they see it.