“I recently participated in the Mountain Maryland Plein Air in Cumberland, Maryland, where it rained all week,” says Joanna Barnum. “In instances like that, I often resort to painting curled up in the trunk of my car, or seeking shelter wherever I can find it. For Getting to the Point, I set up inside a parking garage in downtown Cumberland. In addition to cover from the rain, this provided the advantage of an aerial viewpoint of the city.
“I was attracted to this particular view for a number of reasons. I liked the repetition of the church steeples in the distance with the turret on the old building in the foreground and the triangular shape of the front of the building. I was also interested in the atmospheric perspective created by the foggy conditions in the distance, and in the light reflecting off the damp roof, the metal chimney flashing and the gutters on the foreground building. These reflections enabled me to introduce some contrast into the foreground of the painting, which can be hard to find on an overcast day.
“Even with the shelter of the garage, the humid air still made painting watercolor outdoors a challenge, as the painting dried very slowly. These conditions require using less water and planning for fewer layers in the painting. But the slow drying time in this case was actually an asset as it allowed me plenty of time to create the foggy atmosphere in the distance with wet-on-wet painting. Before I built up my final darks and sharp details in the foreground, I actually resorted to putting the painting in my car and blasting the heat for a few minutes to help dry the painting.
“After the rainy struggle of the week, I was so surprised to receive Best in Show for the painting from juror Vladislav Yeliseyev. This would have been a tremendous honor under any circumstances, but it was particularly special to be recognized by a fellow watercolorist.”
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Some artists use a chef’s blowtorch to dry their work in those circumstances.