Plein Air Tips #4 Protect Your Eyes!

'Poppy Surprise' 5x7 plein air pastel ©Karen Margulis

I am not a hat person. I have one but it looks better on my dog Heidi than it does on me. But I learned the hard way it isn't about how you look when you are out in the elements. a couple of years ago I attended a Richard McKinley workshop near Lake Tahoe California. We were high in the Sierra Mountains where the air is clear and the sun intense. It was Autumn and the weather was gorgeous. Not too cold and not too hot. I wasn't wearing a hat as usual. I just don't like hats. One of the other artists kept after me about wearing a hat. The second day I came without a hat and she insisted that I wear hers. She told me that I could get a sunburn in my eyes.

That really hit home...my eyes had been bothering me. They burned and watered. I thought it was just due to the wind or because I was tired. But they were actually burnt. I gratefully used her hat and bought my own that evening.

My model Heidi Rose

Protect your most important asset as an artist...your eyes! Wear a hat when out to paint! Not only does it protect you from the elements....you can see better and more comfortably without having to squint and fight the sun....save the squinting for the painting!