Plein Air Painting

 

Click here to purchase through my Etsy store
"Dust"

9 x 12 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I went up north to Park Rapids, Minnesota for vacation. Every year I go up I always leave saying "I wish I brought my paints with me!", finally I did! I am the first to tell you that painting landscapes have always been a weakness of mine. I do love them I just do not do them enough, maybe once or twice a year I'll get out and paint a landscape. Going to Park Rapids I wanted to change that and at least do a couple landscapes.

Experiencing nature when you're outdoors painting is something that I truly enjoyed. I would recommend everyone to do it as much as they can. With this process I wanted to lay down the tone or mood of the painting right away. After the initial drawing I painted each section with their general tones, not worrying about details just laying in the overall tones. Doing this allows me to see a "rough' draft of how the final will look, it also lets me get the tones down quicker especially for plein air painting. As I stated in my previous post the "rough" in stage does not mean scumbling paint everywhere in a messy way. I am still thinking of smooth transitions, edges and paint quality. At this stage I also keep the paints thin as I will be adding more layers when putting in the smaller forms or "details". Once the "rough" in stage is complete I start section by section in completing the painting, going from darker to lighter forms. I like to make sure each section is to a close finish as I can take it before moving onto the next section. Once all sections are completed I look at the painting as a whole and put the final touches so the painting can be cohesive.

Till next time, cheers!