The first time I really got the nerve to promote and sell my paintings was during a 30 Day Challenge sponsored by Leslie Saeta in fall 2014. A fellow artist was planning to participate and she encouraged me to do so also. This involved painting every day for a month, and for someone with a day job, that was very difficult. I sometimes painted 3-5 paintings on the weekends to keep up. Every day I would post my painting on the Challenge site as well as my own Facebook page. My friends/followers really got into it and looked forward to seeing the daily painting. They encouraged me and told me what they liked about each one. I was very encouraged by all the positive feedback. I began selling some of them and that was really rewarding for me. That was when I decided to declare myself an artist and commit to entering the painting business.
"White Flower Canyon" by Ann McCann 20 X 24 Oil at the Dutch Art Gallery Spring Show
My painting of Big Bend was selected to be in the Spring Show with a "Wild" theme at the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas. The show opens on May 20, 2017.
Willow City Loop Bluebonnets Revisited by Ann McCann 9 X 12 Oil
My husband and I went to Fredericksburg, Texas in early May to see the wildflowers, especially the bluebonnets. it wasn't the most spectacular year, but it was still very beautiful. We painted plein air at my favorite spot on the Willow City Loop road. This one spot has everything, flowers, a running stream, distant mountains, etc. I made the mistake of wearing regular lotion instead of sunscreen and got my first sunburn for many years. A rancher stopped by to warn us not to walk the property due to the number of rattlesnakes. That kept me from wandering off the roadside!!
What Does It Feel Like to Paint
When I tell people that I paint, they always says, O that must be really relaxing." I always laugh inside, because it is not relaxing at all. If I am painting outside, yeah the sun and wind feel good but it is not relaxing. You are actually concentrating very intensively. As they say, you are "in the zone." The world drops away, and the only thing that matters is the painting. You paint as fast as you can while being the zone lasts. After several hours, you get tired, and the world around you comes back. That is the time to take a break or put your brush down for the day. If I paint in the evening, I have trouble falling asleep, because my brain is over stimulated from being in the zone so long!
"Wild Seed Poppies" by Ann McCann 8 X 8 Oil (c) 2017
Plein Air Poppies (Wild Seed Farm) by Ann McCann 5 X 7 Oil
We just got back from wild flower painting in Fredericksburg, Texas. The Wild Seed Farm there has several fields of red and variegated poppies. It is so glorious to see these whole fields of red. While we were there, we heard some very loud metal crashes and sure enough, people stopping their cars to gaze at the red fields caused a chain car crash! This small painting can be purchased at the Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas.
How I Learned to Paint
I initially took a lot of evening classes at a local university, drawing and painting human models, still lifes and portraits, in addition to my weekend plein air class outdoors. I painted with pastels and watercolors, in addition to oils. You draw with pastels and there is no color mixing. It is very immediate, and the myriad colors are lovely. Watercolor is trickier and less forgiving. You have to start with the light colors first and slowly go darker. You can’t change dark colors once they are laid and you also need to leave white spaces. This is just the opposite of oils, where you start with your dark values first, and you can paint over your mistakes.
I slowly worked up to using my oils more and more over time. One of the best learning experiences with oils was participating in the 30 Days-30 Paintings Challenge by artist Leslie Saeta. Painting every day improved my technique much more rapidly. Oils are less fragile than either pastels or watercolors and are less expensive to frame: no matting or glass is required. So, I decided to focus on oils. However, I still like to sketch with watercolors when I travel. I can carry everything I need in a small bag.
Why I Paint Plein Air
Plein air painting is conducted outdoors and ideally in one session. I plein air painted every Saturday for 15 years with classes taught by Suzanne Kelly Clark, soaking up the light and fresh air of Texas (except for July and August!) Besides enjoying the outdoors, you see subtle changes in light and shadow within three dimensions which a photo cannot capture. A photo flattens space and is pretty much just light and dark. Even if I end up finishing the painting in my studio, it is better for being created plein air, looser, fresher, etc. You really need to be in that landscape and experience the light and colors of that spot to convey that onto the canvas.
Why I Started Painting
When my daughter Hannah was in first grade, about 20 year ago, she showed some talent in art. However, her school art teacher encouraged her to paint as fast as possible. He also didn't think that six year olds could learn perspective. So, she wasn't doing the best that she could. I enrolled her in a local studio that focused on teaching children. Hannah's art got better quickly, and she soon incorporated perspective in her drawing and painting.
Hannah's classes looked like fun, and I thought drawing skills would help me create visuals for my presentations as a college professor. So, I enrolled in a drawing course. We did blind contour drawings of still lifes (couldn't look at our paper) that helped us loosen up and improve our drawing skills. My drawing teacher said I shouldn't wait until I was good at drawing to start painting. Well, I hadn't even thought about painting, but I decided to give it a shot. I went for my first plein air session, and really struggled to paint sailboats on a lake, how big to make them in relation to the horizon, etc. However, I kept going, taking courses in the evenings and painting on the weekends whenever I could.
I would show you that first painting but I am pretty sure I got rid of it. Here is a more recent painting of a similar scene.
Celebrating Spring II by Ann McCann 9 X 12 Oil
This is the second painting I did of my February birthday visit to the Dallas Arboretum. This one has yellow daffodils and blue hyacinths with the orange tulips. This is a companion piece to one I posted on Monday (see below). They would look lovely hung together.
Celebrating Spring I by Ann McCann 9 X 12 Oil
On my February birthday visit to the Dallas Arboretum, I saw these lovely spring blooms- orange tulips, fuchsia hyacinths and blue pansies. The air was scented with the hyacinths and the sun was warm on my back. I decided I must capture this moment.
Cherry Trees on the Lake by Ann McCann 11 X 14 Oil
I went to the Arboretum on my birthday in February and photographed these beautiful flowering trees on the lake. Needless to say, I had to paint them.
Oleander Trees in Seville by Ann McCann 16 X 20 Oil
The parks in Seville, Spain were filled with flowering trees when we visited them last May 2016. Here I painted a walkway of flowering oleander trees. I loved this scene with the flowering trees against the lovely palm trees.
Pink Peonies by Ann McCann 9 X 12 Oil
I saw the peonies at the grocery store and could not resist them. They are so lush and smell wonderful. I had a beautiful peony bush in my yard in Michigan but they don't grow well here in Texas. I look at this painting every day in my office. It makes me smile.
"White Flower Canyon in Big Bend" by Ann McCann 20 X 24 Oil
Here is another image from our December trip to Big Bend. There were beautiful white flowers blooming all along the Rio Grande with the colorful cliffs in the background. Hard to believe this was in December. It was 70 degrees too!