Painting Tip #8

The sky is always the lightest part of a landscape. The only situation where another area comes even close to that brightness would be a snow scene.

More Information on "Painting The Plein Air Portrait"

This excellent DVD series simplifies the process of capturing the true light effect out of doors, both with colored blocks and when painting a portrait. Utilizing the method of painting taught by The Cape Cod School of Art, every plane change is not only a value change, but also a color change (not just darkened or lightened with black or white) when painting with this colorist process.

Ms. Baumgaertner is an excellent teacher who explains everything you need to know about painting a portrait "en plein air", from the materials to how to set up your model to shocking new ideas about color - did you know blue turns pink in sunlight? Sounds crazy, but it really works!

There is now information about how to purchase this unique instruction here:

http://portraitclasses.com/dvdvideoandbrushes/pleinairdvd.html

Plein Air Festival - A Brush With The Highlands

I have been doing way too much thinking about painting and not enough doing lately. I just managed to live through a rather stressful period of time wherein we listed and tried to maintain a perfectly tidy home while still living there with two active kids. After way too many weeks of this, the place finally sold and then we had the fun task of getting rid of stuff, packing up the rest and moving. Ugh. I do not recommend it.

Anyhow, I have been doing a lot of painting in my head these days. Everywhere I go, I see paintings that just haven't happened yet, whether I am driving down the highway or walking in my neighborhood. I keep telling myself, "I would use a combination of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna for that", or "I would have to really compress the values for this", and asking myself "Is the ground really darker than the sky in this instance"?

Even without a brush in my hand, I am always creating something in my head. Time now to get to work and actually do it! Fortunately, I am going to be participating in an outdoor plein air painting festival at the end of July. It is called A Brush With The Highlands and participating painters will be guided to scenic areas in and around Wilberforce, Ontario. I am really looking forward to immersing myself in painting in the company of other plein air enthusiasts, including a number of people from the newly formed Ontario Plein Air Society.

I hope everyone is getting out there and enjoying the beautiful warmth and color of summer - there is no better way to improve your skills as a painter!