Painting plein air is a challenge and a pleasure. When creating a painting from being there, there are lots of things that can greatly add to the work. You will feel the weather, and possibly battle the elements. You will have to make choices about what you are going to paint. You will have to set up your equipment. It takes work. But the payoff is that the work you create will have a freshness that is hard to achieve in the studio.
Before you go out for the first time to paint, have a practice at home setting up your equipment. You will probably find there are things you don’t need. My kit will now fit easily into a tote bag. I take a small selection of paints. At a minimum, just 3 colours in watercolour. I often paint plein air in acrylic, but I am going to concentrate on watercolour for this post. 3 brushes, My 30mm flat brush, a large and a small round. A water pot, a rag and a bottle of water. My folding palette: having a folding palette means I am less likely to get paint everywhere when travelling. A sketch book and pencil. I have a collapsible tripod, and a board that will attach to it. I will take a couple of pieces of paper with me, and a roll of tape to attach it to the board. Other things I take are some music or an audiobook on my phone, and drink and maybe some food. I also take a folding chair, but I try to find somewhere that has a bench… one less thing to carry. You will also need to dress in layers. You will need to be covered for a range of weather conditions. Even if it is sunny, you can get caught in a breeze.
My watercolour painting box.
I would always recommend creating a few sketches when you arrive on site. This will help you decide what to paint. They only need to be small, but will give you the composition on paper. Make some as landscape format and some as portrait. The best composition may not always be obvious. One of the hardest things when you start painting plein air is deciding what NOT to paint. There is so much to choose from. You will have to start making decisions. This practice is important if you want to progress as an artist.
A page from my sketchbook.
Set out your painting with minimum fuss. What I mean here is don’t spend too long on your drawing. Make sure you have enough information so things are in the right place, and you have enough detail. You are only going to be there for a relatively short time so you have to learn to be efficient. One of the other joys of painting plein air is that you can move things. If something really interesting is just off to the side, slide it in! You can’t see it if it is just off the edge of a photo. This is all part of the editing process, and has been done by artists since the impressionists started painting scenes from life.
Set up at Gorleston Beach.
When you paint, go with your emotional response. You want to express what made you want to paint the scene. Was it the sun hitting the wall? Was it the drift of flowers along the path? Was it the sky? Get down what attracted you. And remember, good is enough. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Please remember, when you put your shadows in, you need to put ALL your shadows in. You don’t want one part of the painting having morning shadows to the left of your composition, and another part showing the sun coming from a different direction. I would concentrate of your focal point. The rest of the painting can be an impression.
Nearly there.
One of the other things that worry some people is the public. If this is you, make your first plein air paintings in your garden. Somewhere you will not be disturbed. When you are feeling braver, go somewhere you know is quiet. Put your back against a wall. If you have headphones in, less people talk to you. But to be honest, the public are on your side. On the whole, those who will approach you are interested. They often wish they could do it. The ones who aren’t interested will walk on by. Once you have been out a few times, you will realise it is an amazing experience, and one that I am addicted to.
