En Plein Air Painting and Sketching

Photo of girl sitting on bench on cliff overlooking Portland coastline
{Me sitting on a lovely wooden bench painting this gorgeous vista}

I’m back! What a trip D and I had to Portland and driving along the coastline to San Francisco! There’s so much to share that I’ll be posting more photos with you on Friday too.

Even though I’ve been an artist for my whole life, it’s only recently that I’ve made a conscious effect to sketch and paint while traveling. In the past I’ve often created painting from photos I’ve taken. This has been fun, but there’s something magical about creating right on the spot that is inspiring you.

Photo of watercolor painting of OR coastline
{Battle Rock, OR}

Stopping along while touring Portland and on our road trip helped to break up the trip. If I saw something that I wanted to paint, I’d ask that we hang out for 20-30 minutes. I’d pull out my watercolors and D would explore locally and snap a few more photos or in one case—nap (ha!). He is so wonderful about giving me the time to create.

Photo of watercolor painting from Japanese Garden in Portland OR
{Bridge in the Japanese Garden in Portland, OR}

With so much beauty in the Japanese Garden it was hard to find the right spot to paint. I finally settled on a view of a curved foot bridge with all sorts of foliage around.

Abby Painting in the Japanese Garden in Portland OR
{Me at the Japanese Garden in Portland, OR}

I love how my own outfit seems to coordinate perfectly with my garden surroundings too (huge grin).

Abby sketching on side of the road looking at ocean
{Me taking a moment to make a quick tiny sketch in my book necklace}

D captured these great photos of me in action painting and sketching. I didn’t even know he took these!

photo of book necklace
{Northern Oregon coastline}

My new sketchbook necklace was so much fun to use. I captured great little moments and thoughts of our trip. I’ll be sharing more tiny sketches and more photos of my 2 favorite spots from our trip—such inspiration!

Where are you planning YOUR vacation?

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