Plein Airheads

I think I have now officially joined the 'Tuesday Plein Air' group, or plein airheads as I think they should be called.  I mean, you've got to be daft to go and sit in the boiling sun with a piddly umbrella trying its best to give you some shade, or, as we've been doing the past two weeks, sitting on top of the mountain (oh, alright, hill) with a good chance of being blown off!

My complete and total admiration goes out to people like Rob Ijbema and Rene Plein Air who actually go and sit in the SNOW and paint!  Bill Guffy in the USA tends to do that as well.  Daft, as I said.  But they do produce jolly good work.

Now I'm relatively new to this outside process and am still trying to find my way around bringing this vast panorama we call Table Mountain into a teeny weeny 14"x18" canvas.  For the past 2 weeks we've been on the top of Signal Hill which is part of the TM facade and the views overlooking the city, the mountain and the new Soccer Stadium are breathtaking.  

The first week was misty when we arrived so it was hurry, hurry, try and catch the mist before it burnt away. 

Then the following week I sat crunched under a short tree for shade and painted the right hand side of TM with the cable station sticking up at the top.  The 12 Apostles are on the right hand side with a lone pine tree that was in front of me on my little bit of mountain.

I was not that happy with the result, but the light was changing so had to stop.  I may try and do some more on it this coming Tuesday - I think the darks needs darkening.  But here is our wonderful - at least a bit of  it - Table Mountain.

I just want to add here that all the trees in Cape Town are bent.  The Southeaster, or Cape Doctor, keeps the air nice and clean, but the trees have trouble standing up to the wind.