Summer Heat

It’s hot here in New Jersey. Really hot and humid. It’s the kind of weather that keeps people inside. Going for a walk in the woods is risky to the point of being a real health hazard. So what do artists do in these situations?

I don’t like to paint outside, so plein air isn’t for me. But I do like to walk in nature and take reference photos to use later. The heat is now forcing me to only walk very early in the morning. It’s not quite so hot then and I can stay out longer without feeling like I’m risking heat stroke. But what’s interesting about that is the light is very different at 7AM than it is at 10AM.

I’m almost never out and about in the late afternoon where the light would be different still so I can’t really compare something like 4PM with, say, 8PM or sunset. But the morning light difference is huge. And the light seems to change fast at that hour. I can’t really walk through the woods scouting and then come back to take photos because whatever caught my eye initially will be gone.

Also, the light at 7AM doesn’t seem to really do it for me in the woods. The mid-morning sun seems to come in at just the right angle to create interesting shadows and highlights. This might be different if you’re painting in an open space, like a plain or less dense areas of nature (like out west). But in a wooded area, morning sunlight doesn’t seem to penetrate sufficiently for most of the places where I walk.

There are a few places along the tow path in Princeton where sunrise shines over the canal in a way that is really nice but I haven’t been able to get decent photos of it (yet).

For me, this isn’t really that big of an issue because, as I said, I don’t paint outside anyway. And, at least lately, I mostly paint portraits. I have a pile of photo references from my walks around Princeton that I have yet to work on as landscape paintings, but I’m always looking for more opportunities to be inspired.

I wonder what plein air painters do in places like New Jersey when the weather is unbearable for prolonged periods of time? Maybe that’s why there are so many plain air painters out west and not so many here.

Anyway, lucky me, I get to paint in my studio.