Twists and Turns of Plein Air Painting

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PASTEL VOYAGES | Luck of the Irish

Charles Peer embraces the unexpected twists and turns involved in both the adventure of travel and the plein air painting process. 

This article appears in the Summer 2023 issue of Pastel Journal

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I enjoy the thrill of walking the tightrope between executing the best and most inspired painting of my career and falling off the creative cliff in a disastrous crash. In my youth, I discovered a love for the unfolding wonders of travel: seeing world-renowned sites, experiencing serendipitous encounters with people you meet along the way, sampling interesting foods and having fantastic experiences unimaginable before the trip. The quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey,” seems to ring so true for art as well as for travel—and indeed, for life itself. So, when presented with the opportunity to travel around Ireland for a month, the decision was a no-brainer. The encouragement of family and friends, the added support of the LuxArchival paper company and an invitation to lead a workshop for the Pastel Society of Ireland solidified my decision and sweetened the deal. 

After having to reschedule the trip three times due to COVID travel restrictions, last summer I was finally on my way with a suitcase full of clothes and a backpack full of art supplies. I spent the first part of my trip with my siblings, enjoying a small group tour of the island. During this time I made three or four 10-minute pen-and-ink sketches per day to capture the small and unpretentious sights all around. The latter part of my journey was spent near the tiny town of Strangford, in Northern Ireland, where I stayed in a stable-turned-cottage as my home base. I rented a car, grabbed my backpack of supplies and eagerly set off to paint the beauty surrounding me. 

Packing Smart for Plein Air 

Every travel guide in the world stresses the importance of packing light—and I want to echo that suggestion. All my supplies had to fit into one backpack. I like to have my hands free as I maneuver over uneven terrain, so I carried a few sheets of 11×14-inch LuxArchival paper sandwiched between two slightly larger pieces of Gator Board, held together with binder clips. I also brought Krystal Seal display bags to protect the finished pieces in transport and drafting tape for reverse-mounting my paper. My Heilman BackPack Pastel Box was filled with pastels (mostly Ludwigs and Unisons plus a few NuPastels) and pieces of vine charcoal, along with my Benro tripod with the adapted Heilman easel, an Easel Butler, a knitting needle case containing brushes, pencils and a ruler, plus a Ziploc bag with a few paper towels, hand wipes, a tiny bottle for liquids, and a small plastic cup with a lid. I thought I was ready for anything!  

Plein Air Problem-Solving 

Although I had been to Ireland a number of times, every experience is new with its own set of surprises. Two such art-related surprises required creative problem-solving. The first was my discovery that you’re not able to buy isopropyl alcohol in Ireland, which forced me to rethink my underpainting process. This led me on an experimental quest to find new techniques that would accomplish a pleasing painting foundation. I experimented with a dry underpainting technique and tried substitutions, including water, hand sanitizer, surgical spirits (Britain’s equivalent to rubbing alcohol) and even vodka! 

The second surprise was the presence of nearly constant wind in the coastal areas of Ireland. My first clue should have been the fact that there are no plein air umbrellas to be found on the island. No one wants their easel to become a Mary Poppins flying contraption! The ever-present wind often forced me to abandon my plein air painting plans and instead work primarily at the cottage in the early mornings and evenings. I explored the countryside during the rest of the day, painting en plein air intermittently.  

“The entire painting process, from the first spark of inspiration to the final addition of a signature, continues to hold a sense of magic that propels me forward.”

—Charles Peer

Inspiration Abounds 

Other than a few days when I visited with old friends or led the workshop, my time was totally unscheduled. Each day I would load up the car and take off to explore a handful of locations, some of which I’d visited before, and many that were new spots suggested by locals as the best off-the-beaten-path sites. These explorations led to astonishing encounters with 4,000-year-old stone circles, ancient Roman baths, tiny 11th-century churches and small-town summer festivals. I had engaging visits with lifeguards, grocery clerks, skiff squad captains, pub musicians and caretakers of old castles. There was also a recommendation to sample the “to-die-for” salted chili squid—a delicious meal I would have never ordered on my own. Without exception, each of these experiences served as inspiration for painting subject matter. The result of these excursions was 33 paintings, most of them completed during my trip and some immediately upon my return to the United States. The collection can be viewed at charlespeer.com, under the Views & Visions tab.  

What will I hold onto long after these paintings have found new homes and I’ve moved on to new projects? First, I believe it will be the fact that by being available to the unexpected and investing myself fully in the day-to-day experiences, I appreciate more deeply the land, the stories, the people, the culture, the conflicts, the resolutions and the joys of this beautiful island of greens. And second, the entire painting process, from the first spark of inspiration to the final addition of a signature, continues to hold a sense of magic that propels me forward to seeking, seeing and creating more. Sometimes it actually is the destination and not the journey. 

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