Well, what a weekend that was! My first attempt at Plein Air painting in London, with 501 other painters for company...

Last week I took a last minute decision to sign up for the second annual 'paint out' on the streets of Kensington and Chelsea and I'm so glad I decided to go, I had such a great time and learned so much in my 3 days in London.

So what is a 'paint out'? The idea has come from America where they are very popular. Basically, a bunch of artists go out and paint on location for a day, then they frame their paintings for an immediate exhibition where prizes are awarded for the best pictures and members of the public can come to buy the fresh local paintings; often before the paint has even dried! 

I had a lovely day painting on Saturday and met some wonderful artists and buyers at our exhibition on Sunday at Chelsea Old Town Hall. The excitement of painting outside, trying to capture the wind and weather on canvas is heightened further by the presence of so many other painters; and the pressure of an 8pm deadline to present your finished work. It all makes for a very intense painting experience that just cannot be matched in the studio.

I will definitely be taking part in plenty more of these events - in fact, I enjoyed it so much that I'm thinking of going to Wexford, Ireland next week for a whole week of painting at 'Art in the Open'!

The pictures below show the stages of my painting from Chelsea Embankment on the stormy Saturday morning...