PleinAir Magazine – August 2019

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

the elements

TIPSFORPAINTINGVIBRANT

COLOR

• Callyourpaintinga study.Whenyouthinkofwhat
  you’reworkingonasa studyinsteadofa painting,it
  canencouragea senseoffreedom.You’renottrying
  tocreatea masterpiece;you’rejusttryingtolearn.


• Usea brightlytonedcanvas.Thiscanbetheeasiest
  waytomakeyourpaintingssparkle,becauseit doesn’t
  necessarilyrequirea changeinthewayyouwork.
  Simplyletsomeoftheunderpaintingshinethrough.


• Exaggeratethesubtleties.Lookcloselyatthe
  scene.Is therea bluevioletfromtheskyreflectedin
  thegroundshadows?Is therea colorfultree,house,
  orboat?Findthecolorsthat are already there and
  exaggeratethema little.


• Keepthevalue;changethehue.Inmyopinion,a
  color’sinherentvalueis itsmostimportantattribute.
  Thismeansyoucanexperimentandchangethe
  hueandsaturationofcolorsquite a bit as long as
  youkeepthevaluescorrect.


• Addvarietytoeachcolor.A paintingthatonlyhas
  fullysaturatedcolorscanbeoverwhelming.Placing
  dull,grayed-downcolorsnexttothecleaner,more
  saturatedcolorsalsocreatesvarietyandmakes the
  saturatedareasappearmorecolorful.


• Usegraytogivetheeyea placetorest.Making
  a portionofthepainting(thesky,forinstance)a
  simpleneutralgrayishcolorprovidesa restingplace
  fortheviewer’seyeand can help bring a sense of
  peacetothescene.


• Letcolorhaveitsvoice.GeorgiaO’Keeffesaid,“I
  foundI couldsaythingswithcolorandshapesthatI
  couldn’tsayanyotherway—thingsI hadnowords
  for.”Whatdoyoufeelwhenyouseea sceneyou
  love?Whatdoyouwanttosayaboutit?How can
  you use color to say what words can’t?

SecondChances

2018,acrylic, 18 x 24in.

Privatecollection

Plein air

Oneofmyfavoritepartsofa paint-outisthatit meansfocused

paintingtime.I gettoroamaround,oftenwitha friend,and

lookforinterestingscenestopaint.Inthiscase,I cameacrossan

oldhouseindisrepairandknewimmediatelyI wantedtopaint

it.Withthelate-afternoonsunlightingupthebackground,

therewasa strongcontrastinvalueandtemperatureto

gowiththeinterestingshapesofthebuildings.I pushed

theshadowcolorsmorethanthesunlitareastokeepthe

foregroundinterestingandvibrant.I paintedona blackcanvas

andleftportionsshowingthrougheverywhereexceptforthe

background trees, which I wanted to appear light and airy.

Side-Tracked,CapitalHill

2018,acrylic, 18 x 24in.

Privatecollection

Studio

I’velovedalleysfora longtime.I thinktheyareoftenmoreinterestingthanthestreet

sideofbuildings.ThepuddlesinthisoneinSeattletoppedit offforme.I startedwitha

violet-coloredcanvasandusedcadmiumredtodrawthescene.Allowingsomeofthose

colorstoshowthroughintheendaddedvibrancytothepaintingandallowedfora lot

ofsaturation.I alsoexaggeratedtheredandorangeofthe buildings on the left, as well

as some of the cooler colors in the shadowed areas.