"En Plein Air" Painting Outside in the Winter?

photos of Patrick John Mills (photo taken by Julie Campbell 2014)

En Plein Air - Painting Outside in the Winter?  

Q: Does your paint freeze?

Ans: The paint does not freeze, but it does behave differently in the cold temperatures. Titanium White (PW6) and Zinc White (PW4) metal pigments behave more like molasses or honey. They get more stringy like spaghetti. Other paints from specific brands get stiff like refrigerated butter and lack flexibility and flow.

Q: Why do you paint outside in the winter cold?

Ans: Life is moments. When I am outside on location I feel free like a bird flying in a big blue sky. The cold acts as a catalysis to achieving higher levels of creative concentration. I have to get intensely focused and block out the cold and time becomes a day dream.

I also paint outside because I want to share... to open my studio to the public.

Q: Why do you not wear gloves?

Ans: You do not make love with cloths on... so why paint with gloves on.

This also creates problems. When nature calls and you need to go to the bathroom. Your hands are all covered in paint. You destroy your underwear and specific body parts look like a blue smurf.