Photos / Process

THE ADVENTURES OF PLEIN AIR PAINTING.....

                              
   7/1/10 Painting at Cedar Garden Court.                03/31/10 First plein air outing of 2010!       
                                                                                                                                          
There is nothing better than painting on location, unless you are painting on location with friends:

          Plein Air set-up.
Left to right:
www.viannaszabo.com,  www.sharonwill.com, Marianna Defer Pfeifer, www.barbarareichstudio.com.  


PROCESS:

If you are fortunate to go out painting on a beautiful day, plein air painting will be your best instructor.  You will learn to draw better, paint color with more emotion, and you will most definitely learn to study the changing light.  I normally paint smaller and faster when I am out on location, and on a good day I will capture more of what I'm feeling than what I am seeing!  

  
"Van Hoosen Fence & Flowers".  Plein Air Painting,  Pastel.


I LOVE FLOWERS....and during the winter when the snow is a blanket of white on the ground, I will turn to reference photos.  These are photos that I have taken myself, usually of flowers or gardens or landscapes - familiar things.  I will usually paint a bit larger, and spend extra time working on a strong composition.  In the example below, I determined what part of the original image would make for a good/interesting composition.  I then drew in the major shapes (with charcoal) on Wallis sanded pastel paper before moving on to my soft pastels.  

   
"Special Bouquet",  Pastel.