Painting Marathon

Last Saturday was an all-day painting marathon sponsored by the PAAC  (Plein Air Artists of Colorado) in Colorado Springs. They do one every year in different locations. Participants were to paint 5 paintings over the course of the day starting at 5:00 AM as the sun came up on Pikes Peak and ending at 5 in Garden of the Gods.

I decided to go and do this - I have never participated in one before. Nine artists had signed up to participate, some from Colorado Springs, some from other parts of the state. It was pretty hard to get to Colorado Springs by 5 AM since it's a 2 hour drive from home, but we managed to get there by 6. We had debated about driving down the night before but didn't have a chance to do so.

Everyone else was finishing up when we got there and the wind was fairly strong and gusty. I hunkered down behind the car, using it as a windbreak and sun break and set to work fairly quickly, hoping to catch up to the schedule at the next painting stop.  Here's my painting from the first stop - a view of the edge of Pikes Peak and the mountains lit by the early morning sun with a bit of Colorado Springs at the bottom.  Morning in Colorado Springs, 8 x 10.