Bill Fulton

“You are accepted”

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Pacific Northwest Plein Air 2025

I’m happy to say that I’ve been accepted into the 2025 Pacific Northwest Plein Air event in the Columbia River Gorge April 21-26, 2025. This is my third time to apply to this event, and my first time to be accepted.

I’ll be joining about forty other painters in Hood River, Oregon, for the opening get-together. From there, we’ll spread out to paint anywhere in the Columbia River Gorge. It’s a great honor to be selected, and I’ll be painting alongside some excellent painters. I’ll have to be on my game!

As more and more people take up plein air painting, there are increasing numbers of plein air festivals like this one. Typically, a small number of artists are selected on the basis of the plein air paintings they submit in their application. On the first day of the festival, each artist gets their papers or canvases stamped on the back, as a way of certifying that their work has been done in the time period allowed.

Usually artists are given four or five days to produce their paintings. On the last day, artists bring their framed paintings to a gallery where they’re hung for an exhibition. The judge selects the award-winning paintings, and a reception is held for the public. Often these are gala affairs with wine, refreshments, and lots of people, including collectors. Paintings are sold!

Here’s a link to the event.

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Try, try again

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Sometimes I paint a subject several times in an attempt to improve my painting skills. If the subject is interesting, I try to find a way to improve the composition in the subsequent paintings. Maybe I can sharpen the center of interest or move things around to make the painting more balanced. As I paint the subject a second or third time, I feel more confident in my choice of colors and I try to improve my brush work, especially by creating soft edges and blended colors. Although subsequent paintings aren’t necessarily better, I think I learn something through the series of paintings.

I first painted this farm near Kingston on location, and since then I’ve taken several more stabs at it to improve my painting. See what you think.

My original plein air painting, 11 x 15 inches. A little rough
My first studio version of the plein air painting. You can see how I changed the composition by omitting the sheds to the left. 11 x 15 inches.
A second studio version, 11 x 15 inches. I like the crisp edges of the barn that draw the eye to it as the center of interest, but the background line of trees is too sharp. Also I feel there’s too great a contrast between the dark green pasture and the bright sky. The pasture should be lighter, or the sky should be darker.
I made this small painting for our annual Christmas painting exchange at Poulsbo Artists League. 5 x 7 inches. I like the softness of the barn, the pasture, and the background trees that melt into the clouds, but that line of dark trees going down to the right needs to have a softer outline.
My latest version. 7 x 11 inches. I like the softness of the barn, the cows, and the background trees, but, again, that line of trees going down to the right is too hard-edged.

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Painting in the cold

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Indianola estuary

If you follow the road past the old vacation homes in Indianola, WA, through the big fir woods and past the Methodist Church camp, you come to a beautiful estuary that is virtually untouched. When I asked the caretaker of the camp for permission to paint, he explained to me that the Suquamish Tribe owns most of the land in and around the estuary. For that reason, it’s protected as a wildlife refuge and hasn’t been developed.

It was a cold morning when I set up my tripod and made a pencil sketch. Luckily I was able to wear Guy’s warm ski parka that kept the wind off and kept me toasty. The tide was just past high, and the sloughs in the estuary were full of water when I started. The trees on the far side of the marsh grass were reflected in the water, making for a good composition. A line of white driftwood logs bordered the trees.

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Farm on a hill

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Farm near Kingston, WA

Last week I drove to Kingston to paint the estuary, but the tide was so high there was nowhere for me to stand. When I drove by this farm, I pulled over in a wide spot in the road.

Although this farm is near an urban area, it retains the character of old Kitsap County, and even had a few cows grazing. I wasn’t satisfied with my initial painting, so I repainted it in the studio. Much happier with this one.

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Stumbling around in the marsh

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Estuary near Belfair, WA

I’m getting to know all the estuaries of Puget Sound in my area. Estuaries are the places where fresh water from creeks and streams meet the salt water of the Sound. They’re rich in plant life, and fish, birds and mammals thrive in them.

Aesthetically, they’re pleasing to the eye because of the light reflecting off the water and the varied vegetation and interesting land shapes like coves and inlets. Besides that, they’re usually free of human beings so I can paint undisturbed. I love estuaries!

A few days ago I drove Southwest of Belfair to investigate the tide flats. After some poking around, I found a duck hunters’ trail to a duck blind out on the tide flats. There weren’t any hunters, so I stumbled around the marsh until I found a good vantage point. The marsh grasses are thick and uneven, so walking is difficult. It was chilly and gray, but I was dressed warmly. My watercolor washes weren’t drying, so I took the painting back to the car and dried it off with the car heater, then I walked back to my easel and continued. When I got home, I added more texture to the grass in the foreground and some details in the middle ground.

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Where the seagulls gather

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Seagulls at the mouth of Chico Creek

This is the season for salmon runs in the Northwest, so I took my easel to the mouth of Chico Creek near Silverdale, where the salmon are running up the creek. The air was filled with hundreds of seagulls feasting on the dead salmon that were lying on the creek bank, and the light was bouncing off the tide pools in the marsh grass.

I was lucky to get a break in the weather. The afternoon was chilly, but the skies were mostly clear. A beautiful cool November day.

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High tide and a blustery day

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The lagoon near the Gardiner boat ramp

When I started painting this watercolor at Gardiner lagoon, the incoming tide was pushing water up into the grass of the estuary. The weather was blustery and clouds were flying overhead. By the time I finished, the water was almost up to my easel. You never know what will happen when you go painting.

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The tide flats at Gorst, WA

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The tide flats at Gorst, WA

I parked my car behind one of the car sales lots in Gorst, WA, and stepped into another world, a world of muddy tide flats, winding creeks and streams, and marshy bogs. With my satchel of watercolor gear over my shoulder and a large umbrella in my hand, I stumbled through the tall grasses and crossed the muddy creeks until I found just the right place. A few fence posts stood as witnesses to some long ago dairy farmer who ran his cattle here.

I poked my umbrella stand deep in the ground and set up my easel under its canopy. Although showers came and went while I was painting, my easel and I stayed dry. Well, almost — you can see some raindrops in the upper left corner. I used the fenceposts as a way to frame the tideflats and kept most of the washes loose.

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Where the people meet

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Seabold Hall on Bainbridge Island

When Bainbridge Island was a patchwork of farms and orchards early in the last century, people didn’t get around much. So they built community buildings like Seabold Hall for community events, like dances, potluck dinners and holiday celebrations. It still stands, well taken care of, and it still hosts community functions.

I set up my easel in the grassy lot next to the hall and started to paint. There wasn’t much car traffic, but lots of people came by on their daily walk, many of them with a dog or two. I found it very calming and peaceful. The day was cool and partly cloudy, just the right conditions for a plein air painter.

I think I got the perspective right on the building, but I lost control of the washes on the roof. I enjoyed adding the figures, and I’m happy with the looseness of this painting.

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The bend in the road

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There’s something attractive to the eye about a bend in the road. The gentle curve, the disappearing lines that meet at the horizon, the trees bending overhead, especially when the fall foliage is turning red and yellow.

I made this painting under my umbrella on a rainy morning. The FedEx guy stopped and said, “All right!” The Amazon driver said, “I like your painting.” Another young guy in a pickup said, “I never realized my street was so beautiful.” It was nice to get affirmation from younger guys.

The fall foliage will soon be gone and the trees will be bare and forlorn, Meanwhile, I’m trying to learn how to paint the foliage. Here’s another one.

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