You mention of looking up to other artists, inspired by them and comparing your work to them...you are that artist to others (at least me!). Your art is beautiful (whether play/practice, studies, or finished pieces) and showing your processes and ups or downs along the way helps me to learn new ways or techniques (and reminds me to be less critical of my work, and enjoy the art journey).
I love that you're sharing this! When every artists' social media is so curated towards perfection, it can make it even more daunting for beginners, but definitely an imperfect drawing session is something anyone who's ever tried plein air can relate to! I quite liked your painting, definitely into that very excellent magenta underpainting. That is such a fun colour to put underneath! I'd definitely enjoy a part 2! Thank you for sharing! (And I really want an ice cream now...)
Thank you! And yea I totally agree. In fact nowadays I just get turned off by an Instagram feed of perfection. It just feels fake. I mean I get that they are sort of using it as a portfolio but I don't know. I'm over it 🤣
A painting never fails when you spend a few hours celebrating the beauty of life and the world. That is what another plein air painter profoundly told me on a day when I was struggling. I also show the good and bad results in my RU-vid videos and consider the videos as my journal of progress as an artist. This was such a wonderful video and honest commentary. You are far too critical of your work. The result was outstanding. I especially loved your boldness of repeatedly pushing the distant rock farther back by boldly painting over everything with lighter values. Thanks for sharing.
"A painting never fails when you spend a few hours celebrating the beauty of life and the world." That's a beautiful sentiment! I should post that near my computer
I was thinking the same thing as you were talking. I do like the way your underpainting comes through and that is difficult to accomplish with gouache. I’m an oil painter learning gouache and while I could do something similar with oils, my gouache would become mud. Thank you for the video!!!!!
Sarah! I almost took a bite out of my ipad as you were waving that amazing looking cone slowly around. Omg mad crave at 845AM. 😉 Seriously, LOVE your videos and message as always.
When you share your struggles you normalize it for the rest of us. I appreciate your candor and openness with your struggle, because we ALL feel this way sometimes! Great video, and its a gorgeous painting.
I love your authenticity, and it's such treat to see such beautiful scenery! Really enjoying this. :) Edited to add: I really like how the painting turned out - the colours were gorgeous (that pink underpainting 🖤) and I'd love to see a part two to see how you might change it if you decide to do a second version!
Thank you for sharing this video! I have started trying to do plein air painting and it is so challenging! I often forget that it is challenging for others too when I just see videos where it seems so easy for everyone else. Thanks for being vulnerable with us. And yes, a part 2 would be lovely. 😊
TFS! It was worth every second. Love the pink under painting idea. I'm new to gouache painting. It's been hard to work with. I've done oil painting and watercolor for many years, switched to gouache as I travel in an rv and gouache is somewhat similar to oils, the thicker paint and layering, but it's also very different to work with, so still learning. Love your channel!
It's far easier when I know no one is watching or will ever see, but even then I have moments where I don't feel like I can do ever achieve what I want. It just happens.
@@SarahBurnsStudio It is almost everytime for me, but keep on training myself in thinking in a New and different direction; it is okey to fail, ”it’s not a bomb I can do it” then I get myself a brush and if it’s in my sketchbook I splash color on the blank side and Take it from there.”Those” days When nothing feels good, I doodling listen to good music and just be me!
I love the painting! And I would love a part 2 to see what you would change. I really love your drone work too! I got my husband a drone for fathers day and I keep telling him about your drone captures :)
You have a backpack, you could have a very small plastic tarp in it so you could sit and cover yourself for rainy days. Even inexpensive shower curtains from a dollar general would be helpful.
@@SarahBurnsStudio I've never regretted having one in my backpack. It's lovely to sit in a sweet rain like you were having watching drops falling on blades of grass or on sand or in the water. After the rain colors just pop and give beautiful highlights on botanicals. Almost meditative to sit in nature and water the rain around you and not get wet. :)
"Never have I been so unlucky with the weather. Never three suitable days in succession, so I have to be always making changes, for everything is growing and turning green. And I had dreamt of painting the Creuse just as we saw it! In short, by dint of changes I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, and then there is the river that shrinks, swells again, green one day, then yellow, sometimes almost dry, and which tomorrow will be a torrent, after the terrible rain that is failing at the moment. " Claude Monet in his letter to Gustave Geffroy. Next time I'll think other artists got it all covered, I will think about Monsieur Monet, complaining about his experience of plein-air painting!
I just found you and how amazing. I love this video. I would love to go to Scotland, however I don’t think I’d want to come home. Absolutely beautiful video. 🙋🏻♀️ hello from Southern California
Hello! I imagine Southern Cali is also beautiful. I have only ever been to Santa Monica for a trip, but always wanted to visit Northern CA and especially see the redwoods!
It’s hard to believe you compare your work to others. You have a style all of your own, and your paintings are so beautiful. I know so many of us do compare…we paint and hope that it will look perfect and when it isn’t we are often discouraged. I know all too well! Two of my grandchildren are visiting Alaska and sending me back the most beautiful pictures. I’ve been trying to paint mountains and fir trees…I’ve looked up so many artists paintings of both but ugh…can’t seem to do either to make them look like their paintings. So frustrating. I need to look back in your RU-vid tutorials to see if I can find mountains and fir trees. Maybe I can find some help there. Also, since I’m joining patreon, maybe I’ll find help there!). Just remember, your worst painting may be someone’s best painting. One of my mantras for painting…practice, practice, practice. Lots of brush mileage…and don’t give up. Keep trying, even if you have to paint the same thing several times! Thanks Sarah, for all your wonderful tutorials…so filled with hints, tips and inspiration! Looking forward to part 2❤️
I think social media is the antagonist to many unhealthy habits and thought patterns. I am doing my best to live and create freely from "what everyone else does." but that is a huge challenge when I partly rely on social media for advertising so I can't escape it. So I have to stay grounded and continue pursuing my own version of success. 😊
Excellent video…it’s a relief to see someone else struggle….I thought I was the only one going through the same plain air cycle of “omg it’s fab, I want to paint it All….omg I don’t know where to start……omg I don’t know what I’m doing…..aaaarrrggghhhhh”🤣🤣🤣 THANK YOU for posting this!
Just found you today….love that you share the good with the frustrations on plein air. To find such a beautiful spot must have overwhelmed your senses…nothing like that in West Texas for sure. It would be nice for a part 2 but as you said, we will see. PS love the gouache/watercolor. Your pink was very interesting to me. Thanks for the video.
I loved your video! Stop worrying Sarah and just paint! You have a wonderful gift! I have learned much from what you have shared. Look forward to part 2! Martha G
I think it's great you share these. I'm not sure what your personal lessons learned ended up being. One thing I felt, was that one needs to carefully consider reconsidering their painting midway. Sometimes, it saves the paintings, but sometimes it just turns it into a mess or moves it away from the original vision or intent. In this video, around 18:20, you came back from a walk and decided to redo the entire back cliff. Were you satisfied with change? Did it move you closer to the vision you were trying to portray? I can only guess. I liked the earlier version, as I felt it was more like what I was seeing in the video of the scene. But, the change was more in keeping with the overall, almost pastel colors of the foreground. I should note, I work in watercolors, so making major changes more often than not means going darker, and usually risks making muddy colors. Thanks again!!
Enjoyed it so much, will be waiting for the part 2. You must have been so lucky and blessed to have things you need, esp. the amazing places and views you have. Keep painting, please. I badly need something to watch to divert my depression. Cuz I am extremely sad. Thank you for sharing. Be blessed! 🙏
beautiful video and painting class! yes do the part 2...and if I understand correctly you use the pinkish underlayer because is kind of complementary of the greens? Thanks for any help!
Well done. It’s refreshing to see such honesty and I think the painting turned out pretty good despite how you felt about it. You are so right that so much of social media and RU-vid portray an artificial perfect world where everything always works out great. The reality is we all struggle in our creativity and only sometimes are successful. I think failure and success can make interesting stories.
Very nice view of everything. Despite the pressure from nature’s lighting, your work turned out great. Can’t wait to try Gouache soon after watching this. 😀Thanks for sharing!
I really look forward to your videos! What a cool place you have to plein air. The vistas are gorgeous. I am just getting started with painting and can't seem to get a routine...set up etc. And feel really inhibited. So I usually take pictures but they never do it justice. I think I'm just making excuses. Maybe I should Just Do It! Lol. Thanks for sharing your process .
Oh I TOTALLY know what you mean. I do this too. So my way of working around that is to get a simple setup. Pick a spot. And do one painting minimum. Start with a single subject before jumping into a full landscape.
I found your channel only a couple of days ago. Im a much older woman at 36 lol but i remember being 12 and wanting to art in school and being told no by a teacher. That i was useless and since i didnt draw much there was no point at all. That was 24 years ago and it played on me for the last 24 years. I watch youtubers and buy supplies but never use them. I dont know what it is about your channel but ive been binging your videos for a couple of days and today i set up my watercolour palette and im now sat down ready to swatch them. Thank you
Sarah, this helped me so much I almost started crying. My daughter lived in Scotland for a year during the pandemic I was supposed to go see her and of course that got shut down. You remind me of her!( You even look like her.) She is a watercolor artist as well. I love your style and honesty❤ . Super helpful for those of us who struggle constantly. Been doing watercolor for about 5 years with a few successes only you have inspired me to try plein air so I'm going to try to rig up some kind of simple setup. Yes on part two! Thank you thank you thank you.
Wow that's amazing to hear!! I know it can be intimidating to start.. I started really small and simple with postcard size paper and a mini watercolor palette (Cotman)
I know it’s so silly! What a dumb thing to be scared of. Having really high expectations and fear of letting myself down is a hurdle I have to jump over every time.
Thank you! It was so great of you to share this!! 👌. I completely relate - I once lugged art supplies 4000 km to paint the Norwegian fiords, and was so awestruck I barely opened my sketchbook. 😅. The landscape where you were painting is truly stunning! Your choice of the pink ground was perfect, and I enjoyed the playful calligraphy. My complements to you and to your photographer - you both did it justice.
WOW That's intense!! But hopefully you can go back someday and do more art :) I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and thanks for the compliment (I'm my own photographer and do all my own filming/editing)
I cried three quarters through the video for how much I could relate. THANK YOU for sharing this and I really hope you upload a part 2 (if you feel like doing it of course). You inspired me so much that I picked up the brushes again today; I'll keep your words in mind as I paint ❤ So often I want to paint and start scrolling through the thousands (!!) reference images I have collected over time and feel so overwhelmed by nature's beauty that I give up even trying because I know I won't do it justice. Even though I know, as you say most artists do, that unless you practice you can't improve and is totally natural to mess up as you learn, my self-critical brain gives me such a hard time that often I give up altogether before even starting Keep up the amazing work Sarah!
This was so good to see. Thank you for sharing and encouraging for those of us very new to plein air. I have this size pochade box I’ve hardly used. It was good to see your set up. Love the colors in the water and cliffs!
This is a spectacular spot! I tried plein air painting once and it was stressful! A snake slithered past me and it rained too! It does help you commune with nature and get inspired though. Thank you so much for showing us your process and behind the scenes...the good, the bad, and the ugly! We all have them. Your painting turned out beautifully though, even if not what you hoped for.
Omg a snake?? I would RUN..unless it was a tiny cute one. But yea, the elements can be so difficult to maneuver around. You kinda get used it. I get rained/winded out of half my sessions. I always remind myself that it's still worth to go out and connect with nature.
There's that wonderful, refreshing, heartstrings-tugging, irrepressible authenticity that is your inimitable hallmark, Sarah & I hope you never let it go. This video was like a miracle salve to my lacerated ego/pummeled self-esteem & I've no doubt Lessons Learned Part Deux would be a boon & a tonic to many of us who continue the struggle to create art that is enjoyable in terms of process & result. You are & continue to be such a gift!
Very good to see the logistics of setting up. I have a wooden box for painting, but rarely use it. I now prefer to use a clipboard, with lots of bulldog clips. Water can be held between 2 clips, with elastic bands and the water pot in the middle of both clips. I glue lollipop sticks along one side, to hep hold my sketchbook in place, acting like a shelf to rest it on. Large elastic bands to hold down sketchbook pages are also useful.
Thank you for sharing your authentic experience. I appreciate watching an artist work through their emotional experience as they work. I learn more and makes me more brave to keep going. Love your work, and your courage!
It's so good to see that you struggle because I LOVE your work and I struggle EVERY TIME I do plein air painting (well any painting right now to be honest). I am so jealous that you get to live in Scotland. I visited last fall and wanted to stay forever. It sounds like you are North American, how did you get the privilege to live there?
O M G ! I’m in Ireland mon my Bucket List trip, and just found YOU 👏🏻. Love your TALENT 🎨. I want to be like you when I grow up 🤣! I will be following you on my journey and when I return home will get I touch with you. You have totally enhanced my trip👍🏻🙏🏼 Jim
Wonderful!! Just found your channel, I'm building up courage to plein air. I'm in Florida,US, a beautiful state, but long a experience the cliffs and colors of Scotland!! Planning to travel, Scotland is top of destination list 🎨👏👏
Awesome…💕 you do d a wonderful job of juggling your backpack, art box, walking a distance, etc. try not to be so hard on yourself 🥰 I throughly enjoyed your expedition. I never get tired of seeing how amazing the colors are, the grass, rocks, water splashing on the beach, and the different colors of the sky as the sun plays amongst the clouds! It would be so hard to decide what to paint! It is all just breathtaking 😍😍😍😍 I can see why you would be physically tired. You have walked quite a distance and had to continually dodge the rain…☔️☔️ Get some rest. See you in your next video. 💕💕💕
I have been watching your videos for a short while. I am an urban sketcher and mostly work in watercolor.I am a profession artist selling my encaustic paintings and ceramics for over 45 years. I also teach. I get what you are trying to convey with this video that sometimes we have a hard day and struggle. However I really don’t believe that there are “ mistakes”in art, nor “failures”. Everyday is an art day and we create and express ourselves. Using those negative words , I feel, just beats yourself up, pulls you backwards and it feels terrible. I say just keep moving forward , turn the page in the sketchbook, start another painting. Self criticism is hurtful and I think, sends the artist backward.. You are an amazing artist, very sensitive and have a great touch with the paint. Carry on!
It’s beautiful, I love the water. I think sometimes we base the results on what we felt; like if we felt uncomfortable and fearful during the process, then we think it’s a bad painting. Me looking at it without the experience, I just see a beautiful loose painting. The repainted one looks good too, nice and clean; they are both great.
I think more of us are paralysed by our inner fears than we let on. Bravo to you for just getting out there!! You are an inspiration to me (an novice painter at 61y.o.! LOL!) to venture forth and PAINT! We all have something to say in this world, no matter how small our contribution may seem….
Thankyou, thankyou, thankYOU! I truly appreciate what you've shared with us here today, and allowing yourself to be vulnerable, thankyou for choosing the road less traveled💗
Out of topic comments here: 1. really like your hat, I will look for a similar hat for myself. 2. random thought - you are very good looking : ) 3. those picturesque nature shots are breathtaking.
Miss Burns, you are so real... This is what it takes to be a successful artist. First we have to be successful humans, right? To not have anything blocking our own experience. This allows our art to unfold. You are well on the way in both arenas as I experience you. Thanks for all that you give. Gyps ❤️
Beautiful result! It helps so much to see your whole process and hear some of your internal dialogue. I feel better about my work, and am looking forward to getting outside!
Your honesty was so refreshing. Everyone who ventures out to paint goes through the same struggle. I imagine you have ingrained memories of that setting that will stay with you. The learning and the journey creates better paintings. Glad you treated yourself to ice cream!
Yes a lot of painters experience those hindrances when confronted with nature for the first time. Another piece of advice...forget completely about social media, pretend they never existed. Try to get the mixtures in your mind with your own set of paints. Your brush is there to to produce and not reproduce what you see.
I don't even attempt traditional media with plein air. I take out my iPad and I just do general shapes and focus on colour. Zero intention of ever showing these studies to people so it drops the expectations to perform!
This is up in my favorite videos you have done as it helps to hear how you talk yourself down off of a concern and show that it is worth finishing even a painting that is challenging! Thank you for posting this one!
This is so very honest. Plein air painters have all been there. We tend to forget the initial struggle of getting to that "just right" painting spot and dealing with the fast changes in the light.
Most people fail painting but we do not always see it. Its Honest to show the struggles and it lets your viewers know that there are bad days and good.
Thanks for sharing this. It reminds me of years ago when I tried to draw draft horses in Amish country by the side of the road looking across a field. And all these trucks kept blowing past me kicking up dirt and grit. :) Perhaps you could use what you did as an excellent study and explore some of your other intentions in another painting. Well done for pushing through and completing it and thanks for sharing your process. It helps the artist sangha for sure. I hope the ice cream was delicious. :)
