Plein Air Painting is actually a painting similar to outside. Thousands of artists who are outdoor painters love to do Plein air painting. Artists have begun their practice by taking their supplies into urban areas and cities to reflect the true or magnificence of nature on a canvas includes streams, forests, mountains, deserts, as well as the busy life of people in their daily routines.
The high level of interest in Plein air art came in the mid-to-late nineteenth century with the emergence of Impressionism. The famous artists of that period who painted outdoor landscapes which are Renoir, Pissarro, Monet.
even these days artists love to choose different geographical locations or single boundaries by a group. This Plein air artwork is very famous and people are eager to see the real creativity and true talents capture by the artists on canvas.
When you start painting outside the two most important things you need to keep in mind 1) composition and 2) color. You need to work quickly to get that moment onto your canvas before the weather changes or other conditions change.
Tips and Techniques for Plein Air Painting
Here are some of the tips and techniques which you can apply to your Plein air painting even if you start as a beginner.
1. Keep compact
The most essential part is to keep yourself compact with your art supplies in order to move easily from one place to another location. You can do research first and grab the items easy to carry that make you effortless to relocate.
2. Difficult to find beautiful places
Plein air painting demands beautiful places to be on the Canvas. Try to figure out to find beautiful places. But yes they are rare to find, sometimes you need to climb a mountain, walk for some distances to find the perfect spot, stand out in windy cold weather. However, it was worth it.
3. Changes in conditions
The prime thing of changes in conditions is “light”. light defines everything we see, if there is little change in the temperature of light, a cloud or the position of the sun will significantly change the way we see a scene before. At this stage, you should keep in your mind some changes that arise and you are able to make adjustments about what you see before or after and the same conditions.
4. Use concise sketches
Concise sketches are one of the best methods to capture what is the actual scene when you arrived to paint. They are also great for narrowing down on the scene which you actually want to paint. There are no specific instructions on the concise drawing. You can do it on any scale or medium. But you must focus on some points such as:-
- Work as quickly as possible, so that thick oils might not be appropriate. Use dry or fast-drying mediums like pens, pencils, gouache, or Watercolors.
- Use large brushes or pens to cover the surfaces and mass in the shapes.
- Shapes are a more superior element of artwork than lines. So your main focal point is to cover the shapes in your painting.
5. Use several mediums are great
In Plein air painting using different mediums gives chance to work with them especially in outdoor painting.
Work with ink and pen: these are very useful art supplies for creating interesting lines on the drawing.
Work with a pencil is similar to a pen but one thing is good you can cover your large surfaces by using the broad side of the pencil. One downside of this method is to work out smudging.
Work with watercolors is great for quick washes of color nevertheless watercolors spoil the painting if the wind picks up. At the same time work with Gouache are similar to watercolor but easier to control
6. Use best techniques such as washes and blocking in
In Plein air painting it is essential to cover the essence of the scene before it gets disappears. That’s why washes and blocking in technique is the best to use. As it helps you to capture the basics of the scene without working on specific details. You are able to capture light conditions, larger shapes, and color harmony.
7. Get one or two large things that bother you
it is our desire to capture the beautiful scenery of nature on our canvas. But if you try to get every shape, line, color, or light. So if you don’t want to end with failed painting while doing Plein air painting. Try to focus on what you want to paint and why you want to paint a scene. There will be one or two elements that bother you. Pick out and make them your focal point to cover in your painting
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