The hazards of plein air painting in Yellowstone

Plein air painting can be tricky enough with the wind, temperature extremes and fast changing light - but add to it all the wildlife in Yellowstone National Park and it becomes a "very unique adventure"!

I had a great plan this morning for Lamar Valley. Up really early to be sure I could get there and set my easel up before the first morning light. I brought along a long horizontal canvas just for this particular scene. A view I know well.

Gorgeous morning. You could already see that the light was going to be glorious. This was going to be good!

I lugged my gear out, a bit of a distance from my car and perched on a spot overlooking the Lamar River. The wind was calm, the temperature was fine, and the wolves were howling in the distance as I began painting....aahhhh...

THEN....hordes of bison descended...

with LOTS of new bison calves.

 

... and they were all headed my way.

Bison coming directly up the path where I was perched. Didn't seem like a good idea to hold my ground. They're BIG and can be particularly ornery with calves in tow. And anyway, I was totally out numbered! The 25 yard rule is a good one. Enter Plan B.

So after packing up QUICKLY and hiking WAY out around to get back to my car, I headed further into Lamar Valley. Just amazing numbers of bison out there in Lamar this morning.

Plan B became "pick a spot, any spot, where the bison aren't. And QUICK since the light is changing."

Flexibility is definitely a good quality to possess as a plein air painter. The more you paint out and handle all the factors that are thrown at you, the better you become dealing with the 'alternatives'. It's part of it. And especially in Yellowstone with the added factor of A LOT of wild animals roaming free.

But having the privilege to paint in this fabulous landscape among all this wildlife is a big reason I'm here. Always an adventure...and that's what I love about it!

I found another beautiful spot. (Not hard to do in Lamar Valley.) This one was out of the path of the bison throngs. So I settled into that long horizontal canvas with a new and different compositional plan - changed direction and painted away. Enjoying the first morning light and warmth on my back.

Not the original plan but a great "Plan B plein air painting excursion" just the same.

My plein air painting study this morning -
from my Plan B vantage point, sans bison.