McCutchen House at USC, by Lucinda Howe, 14x11", Acrylic

This past Saturday, I arrived at the brick gates to the Horseshoe at the University of South Carolina around 8:30 for a plein air day with About Face.   Everything was quiet except for the other painters greeting each other and scouting around for a place to work.  The sun was just starting to light the upper stories of the historic buildings.  The pattern of the palmetto tree shadows against the glowing yellow ochre of the McCutchen house attracted me.  In about 2 hours I started the drawing on a previously prepared red ground and painted the image contrasting warm and cool colors.  During the morning we were joined by USC students, dogs, tourists, and busloads of high school students enjoying the warm weather.  Around 11:30, we gathered for lunch at Di Prato’s and critique outside in the shade with temperatures in the mid 70’s.   At the end, we had 18 artists participating in the plein air event.   What a wonderful day! This is the way February in South Carolina should be!