There is nothing quite like painting ‘in the open air!’ August 8th through 11th fifty-plus artists descended upon Harvey Dunn’s hometown of De Smet, SD. The Harvey Dunn Society hosts this weekend-long event attracting artists from all neighboring states and beyond.
This year the Harvey Dunn Plein Air Event started Thursday. Upon arrival, artists presented their panels, canvases, and/or paper to be stamped with the event name and date. Each day the Ingalls Homestead had artists scattered throughout along with little girls in bonnets and covered wagons traveling through the fields from one museum to the next.
How to Plein Air in Harvey Dunn Country?
The Harvey Dunn Society offered a guided bus tour. The tour took visitors to local sites that pertained to the life & work of Harvey Dunn. But, one doesn’t have to know much about the life of Harvey Dunn or the locations he painted to find a picturesque scene near De Smet worthy of painting.
Painting out in the country can involve a few more steps than painting in the city. Bug spray is essential. Cowboy boots would’ve come in handy when walking through the field trying to avoid critters and their dens. Crop circles – who knew crop circles could serve a purpose?! If you are painting in an area with grass up to your elbows, you might appreciate standing in a crop circle. Because it is the prairie; a large umbrella staked in the ground (think ‘wind’) was essential for relief from sun and rain. These were just a few things one might find handy when painting Plein Air in Harvey Dunn’s country!
Nocturne Painting
There were approximately 60 artists that attended. Traveling around the proximity artists could be seen painting on location at any time of the day, evening late into the night. Click here to read more about this event in another article on SE.Gallery.