"Roosevelt and Churchill discussing cigars", plein air, 11x14, Lighthouse Plein Air Festival, MAryanne JAcobsen art, Palm Beach art, plein air, Society of 4 Arts, President Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, allies, cigars, bougainvillea, beautiful gardens, garden sculptures

"Roosevelt and Churchill discussing cigars", plein air, 11x14

This was another one of my favorite paintings done during the Lighthouse Plein Air Festival.

I had partipated in the festival two years ago and painted at The Society of the Four Arts before, so I was familiar with the grounds and the beautiful pergolas covered with bougainvillea that are throughout the gardens. So I decided to try my hand this time at adding the sculptures of the the two dignitaries  (President Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill) into the painting this time, figuring it would be a piece of cake.

Wrong! Painting bronze images of figures is very different from painting real people! The surfaces are different (skin is soft, metal is hard, flesh tones are predictable, statues in metal are an odd color!) So in spite of the fact that I knew I could nail the background pergola, I struggled with the figures of the 2 allies for quite some time.

Here is a photo of the two friends in the garden, and a couple photos that someone took of me painting them:

In addition to afternoon Florida heat, many people stopped by to chat with me, adding to the difficulties of completing the painting. In the end, it took me 2 afternoons to complete, but I was ultimately happy with the end result.

If you are in the Palm Beach area, be sure to visit the Society of 4 Arts. The grounds are lovely and the Chinese Garden is a special favorite of mine, which also produced a painting last week!