Escape artist | “Summer Waltz” by NG Swett | acrylic painting (& video)

“Summer Waltz” by NG Swett 2024 | 14x11” acrylic on canvas board

I herein reveal…

• what made me want to paint this scene

• what I was trying to express

• how I think it came out

• how I made the video (below)

• and more

Heat wave! It’s been so hot.

As much as one wants to go outside and enjoy the summer, IF it’s cooler inside, then one would like to stay inside.

By looking out the window at the beautiful summer day, one can feel FOMO — the fear of missing out. Summer is here, but it won’t be forever. Summer is the season to recreate, enjoy life, and take it easy. If not now, when??

What made me want to paint this scene

I spotted this lovely scene out the window and I thought I would set up my paints as if I were outside painting, only I would do it inside where it was cooler.

I saw a chance to play around with the indoor and outdoor scenes and have some fun with paints — and my smartphone!

The scene outside the window was so summery, breezy and lovely.

And the scene inside the window was also lovely. A bouquet of flowers that our daughter brought sat on the dining room table near the window. The striped curtains fall around the scene like theater curtains.

But there was also something not so lovely: the feeling of not really wanting to go out into the extreme summer heat, feeling a captive inside the house because of that. Of separation from nature. Of watching and waiting. The emptiness of the lounge chairs on the lawn and the chair at the table…

What I was trying to express

The process of painting the two scenes together in one painting — one a kind of outdoor plein air scene and another as a kind of indoor still life — showed me a few things:

• initially I felt fear and trepidation, which is visible in the video — doubt that I could make a good painting or a good video

• the sense of aliveness in the natural world I try to capture using a dabbed impressionist treatment

• gratitude and appreciation for a longtime home, a place near and dear to my heart and where my family lives, albeit a more staged and less changing indoor setting

• longing, yearning and meaning of empty chairs but also of possibilities

• challenged — demarking the window screen as the focal point, the exact place where indoor and outdoor meet; it picks up sunshine along its thin silvery grid lines

• defiance! The curtains lent themselves to a modernist, expressionist treatment — very satisfying! Like, I could make these curtains more exact or prettier, but I just did ‘em how I felt like doing them

• the lovely flowers, though challenging in their detail, came through best for me using some abstraction

How I think it came out

I mean, I like how the painting and the video came out. Works for me! I always think it’s a miracle when my painting ends up looking like anything at all, let alone forming a complete picture.

I really had fun with the digital and video tools, too.

Here is the video:

How I made the video

Here are some notes about how I made the video:

• I videotaped with my smartphone and a tripod

• I edited the video in Canva

• the waltz soundtracks are all from YouTube’s free audio library (for YouTube use only)

• the scenes of me inside the painting are done with the image of the painting overlaid with a video of me with the background removed

“plein air” painting 101

How to prepare and what to expect

Here’s a carousel of images from a recent plein air painting session to give you a quick idea of how it goes (SWIPE)…

Plein Air Painting Tips:

• Look for plein air painting events near you.

• A great group leader orients the whole group, helps get each painter set up, monitors progress, does his/her own painting, and conducts a “crit session” in which artists give and get comments on the work created.

• Take the opportunity to meet other artists, introduce yourself, and enjoy interactions. You might even want to set up close enough to shoot the breeze with some people.

• Pack and test materials in advance being thoughtful about what you’ll need. Maybe make a list. Place everything in one place by the door.

• What you’ll need: at the very least a pad of paper, a writing instrument, a snack and an open mind. A step up from basic is a small portable set of colors be it markers, pencils, crayons, pastels or paints — with heavier paper. From there, you can get into the bigger paint sets, easels, canvas boards or canvases, etc.

• When you get to the location, find a view that speaks to you most. Begin to notice its features, contours, colors and proportions.

• Take some time to set up, look around, enjoy the moment, the anticipation, the mild but pleasing pressure to produce something.

• Do a sketch or two on paper.

• Follow your normal drawing or painting process.

• Remember, plein air painting is all about spontaneity, imperfection and discovery.

• Keep in mind time constraints.

• You can work on it more later.

• Listen for and consider comments of other artists, you may pick up some great tips for how to get better as a painter.

• Always be kind and constructive in your own comments.

• Bring a snack and beverage(s).

• Think about rest room vicinity.

  That is all, really. Have fun!