Perhaps one of Plein Air Easton’s most remarkable events is its Quick Draw (this year held on Saturday, July 22). In this fast-paced skilled painting competition, any artist with $10 and ambition has 2 hours to turn a blank canvas into a completed painting and is eligible for prizes and potential sales. The event has been known to have as many as 200 artists vying for any patch of shade to produce their best work surrounded by throngs of eager art collectors. Everybody would admit that the scene is intensely exciting and there are many great plein air painters that find that scene terrifying.
For those artists and for artists who want to give themselves a practice run at a painting that they might want to recreate at Saturday’s Quick Draw, Plein Air Easton has partnered with Chesapeake Fine Art Studio to ‘Rehearse Quick Draw’. Artists will register and check in at the Avalon Theatre between 9am-10am on their designated day and then paint within the Quick Draw’s geographic bounds between 10am-12pm, without the crowd expected on Saturday. Instructors from Chesapeake Fine Art Studio will visit with artists (by request) and provide feedback, guidance and offer encouragement throughout the painting time. By 1:00pm the participating artists will gather in the air-conditioned Avalon Theatre for a structured critique of works created that day and to have their paintings judged for a series of cash and scholarship awards provided by Plein Air Easton.
Rehearse Quick Draw Dates*
*(All sessions limited to 40 students each day)
- July 19, 2017 Wednesday – Special session for students of CFAS only. Sign Up Here
- July 20, 2017 Thursday – $30/artist. Sign Up Here
- July 21, 2017 Friday - $30/artist. Sign Up Here
Rehearse Quick Draw Schedule
9am-10am – Check In: Avalon Gallery & Information Center. Painters must check in at the Avalon Theatre to pick up nametags, receive instruction and to let instructors know where they plan to paint.
10am-12pm – Artists Paint within the geographic bounds of Plein Air Easton’s Quick Draw. Under much more relaxed conditions, artists can practice a composition they might want to recreate at Plein Air Easton’s famed Quick Draw the following day. Instructors from Chesapeake Fine Art Studio will mingle amongst participating artists and offer feedback, critique, and encouragement throughout the painting time.
12pm-1pm – Artists’ Break – Grab lunch and cool off in the Café at the Avalon Gallery & Information Center.
1pm-2pm – Awards, critique and feedback. Meet us back at the Avalon Gallery & Information Center. Rehearse Quick Draw judge (TBD) will review and critique the collected works, and present the following awards:
- First Place: $300
- Second Place: $200
- Third Place: $100
- Honorable Mention (2): $50
Afterwards the judge and CFAS instructors will be on hand to offer further coaching, feedback and support.