Working in the Great Outdoors

With concerns of how my paint I use can impact the environment, outside has been a place that I just couldn’t get to. 

Hopefully this summer, I’ll be able to paint outside because of pastels. 

Working Within Clumsiness

I’m really clumsy. There might be a better way to say that, but it’s the truth.I fall all the time. I drop things constantly. 

The other day I dropped my paintbrush onto my canvas. Luckily it was covered in acrylic paint, so I was able to clean it up and repaint that section. Had it been with oil, I would have inevitably mushed it all together and I would have had to wait for the canvas to dry to re-paint, or dissolve the paint with whatever (not an oil painter).

Had I dropped that acrylic paint on the ground outside, it might have led to the death of a creature or toxins from the paint leaching into the soil and water. 

Dropping a pastel on the hard ground of my studio means watching it shatter into a million pieces. But if I drop one on the soft grass outside, it might stand a chance. And so would the ecosystem beneath it.

Putting the Dirt First

While nothing is guaranteed, I really do think that working with pastels will allow me to cultivate an outdoor setup.

Whenever I’m outside, it’s important to me to be really careful about which products I use. Pastels are safer to take outside because they aren’t toxic in the same way that acrylics are.

I don’t want to disturb what’s living in the grass. I don’t want my art to kill the creatures living beneath my feet. 

While my goal is to get outside more, I also want to have beautiful flowers, creatures and landscapes to paint for many years to come. With the right intention, I think we can make this happen!