PleinAir Magazine – August 2019

74 August-September 2019 / http://www.outdoorpainter.com

the elements

Turngray,mundanesubjectsintovibrantpleinairpaintingswiththese

easy-to-followtipsandtechniques.

——— BY JED DORSEY ———

E X AGGER ATING

COLOR

TO ADD LIFE TO

LIFELESS SCENES

H

aveyouhadthisexperience?You’repaintingrightnexttosomeone,

lookingat thesamescene,onlytothinkintheend,“Howdidthey

dothat?Whydoestheirpaintinglooksorichandcolorful,and

minelooksso...blah?”

I remembermyfirstvisittothestudioofMikeSvob,a Canadianartist

whomI admireandstudiedunderyearsago.I wasappreciatinga paintingin

progressonhiseaselwhenI noticedhisreferencephoto.Thecontrastbetween

thetwoblewmeaway.I couldn’tbelievehe’dgottensucha richandcolorful

paintingoutofa ratherdrabpicture.

I hada similarfeelingonthelastdayofthePleinAirConvention&Expo

thisspring.Wewerepaintingat a wineryinSonoma,andI waswalkingaround

toseewhatotherartistswereupto.I cameacrossMichaelSituworkingona

beautifulpaintingandlookeduptoseehissubject.I couldn’tfindit anywhere.

Finally,I spottedit!A barnfaraway.Theslighthazeanddistancehadmutedthe

colorsandvalues,buthehadbeenabletobringouttherichnessofthescene

andmakeit comealive.

Inthosemoments,wemaybecompelledtoaskthequestion:is therea

giftofseeingthatonlysomeartistshave?I don’tthinkso.I believethatwhile

we all have a different vision for what we wanttoaccomplishinourpaintings,

wecantrainourselvestopaint as

vibrantly as we desire.

Afourth-generationartist,Jed

DorseylivesonCamanoIsland,

Washington.He’sdevelopeda

courseofvideoclassestohelp

othersontheircreativejourneys.

jeddorseyart.com

GardenofLife

2018,acrylic, 24 x 36in.

Privatecollection

Plein air