On Location & In Studio

Week 14 and counting! We are almost done with the semester, it’s wild how close I am to having a year of my masters program done! This week in my life drawing class we continued our plein air paintings while gathering also for a group critique to go over our recent class work and discuss what was working well and what areas we could focus on for improvement. We talked over so many helpful things but I’ll just mention a couple that I thought were really good tips.

Critique Tips

1. Atmospheric Perspective

2. Color Integration & Harmony

3. Brushwork Processes

4. Location to Studio Workflow

Atmospheric Perspective

If you are painting a piece with an atmospheric perspective and you have a really clear day feel free to push the values beyond what is actually observed. Exaggerating the sky tones in the areas that are far away will help make the distance feel more readable. When using your color mixtures it’s a good idea to keep your sky mixture on your palette to incorporate into the far away hues. 

Color Integration & Harmony

For color integration and harmony we were encouraged to think about our major categories of color and consider how they influence each area in the painting, thinking of reflected light, how to let cool and warm values coexist, when to make logical exaggerations of hues, and not overcleaning your brushes. If your hues, saturations, and values are correct in the context they live in the muddiness shouldn’t be a problem. Muddiness in the painting was noted as when a color/value/hue has been placed in the wrong spot.

Brushwork Processes

When considering your brushstrokes we talked about how to try and not rework the paints on the canvas. To directly paint with intentional strokes and being left alone. This helps keep your result cleaner with more energy and sharper edges.

Location to Studio Workflow

Plein air painting can be challenging to finish in one session, therefore we focused on how to plan your sessions accordingly. For the first session being on location it is advised to focus on your underpainting, mapping out your drawing, getting your composition and proportions nailed down, then to focus on establishing your lights and darks, and to then block in the major areas of color. The first phase is best to keep things soft and less defined.

The next session can be done on location again or in the studio. This second phase is about refining your edges, pushing the colors, and starting to add details where needed. The final phase of the workflow is done in the studio, working from a photo reference as the final adjustments and refinements are made. 

Plein Air Outing

On Location and In Studio

For this week I scouted out some different areas and settled on the Sandusky historic house. It was a scenic little spot with a beautiful house and plenty of good compositions to choose from. I was hunting for a spot that had more than just plants. A lot of the scenery these days are massive areas of green. I love nature and the beautiful green of spring, but I specifically wanted to paint something else along with the green.

Out of the spots around the house I chose this little building behind the house because I loved the composition of the giant flower bush behind it and the giant tree behind that. I liked that the structure was small and well lit, so I set up my easel and began painting. 

Funny story, as I was painting I chatted with the guy who worked on the property and while I assumed this little building was either a cute little shed or an outhouse he confirmed that it was an outhouse. How picturesque! Right? Lol. I love my little outhouse though, it’s so cute and it got me thinking of the relationship between the artist and their subject. Artists can take just about anything and make it beautiful, we love to search for the beauty and capture it, even in things that wouldn’t be thought of as worthy of notice. Also, what a fun pondering of how God, as the master artist, takes our little lives, lost, sinful and “wasteful” without him and reshapes it into a beautiful picture of his glory when we surrender to him. There’s my funny little devo for you lol. 

I finished my first session after the underpainting, values, and basic colors were established. I then moved into studio sessions where I worked from photo references refining edges and adding details. I am still loving oil painting and look forward to a summer full of it!

I hope you have a wonderful day, thanks for reading!

Jesus Bless You Abundantly,

Christina