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Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass had a nice turnout today at the Lexington horse farm of Yvonne Todd during the warmest day of the year. My goal was to find a tree or trees to practice my plein air painting.
The bonus was the dappled light that crossed in the foreground. The video shows the initial block-in with Indian Yellow (water mixable oil) that gives a nice glow to the finished painting. I feel like I got the values right. The background line of shrubs was very dark. My greatest time was spent smoothing the edges and getting the foreground light and shadow to look right. This is an example of continuing to practice what challenges me — trees. My teacher lays them in as three values of masses. I don’t try to paint every single leaf anymore. But I still see about 100 values in a tree. Simplifying is what I am still trying to learn. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. I figured out why I struggle painting plein air peonies or any other flower. They are as hard as a portrait for me. And the reason is the same.
The difference between light and shadow on a flower is just as subtle as the difference in skin tones. You must have shadows to show the light on a nosey or a posey. But it doesn’t look right if the shadows are too dark on either one. You thought I was going to say that peonies are like people because they are fragile and smell. I just wanted to test whether you’re listening. The other struggle in this painting is that the peonies would be called “white.” But if you look closely at the video, there is no white at all, not even on the brightest highlight. I’ve tried what other artists have recommended for beginners: try painting a white egg on a white plate. That’s what this challenge was like. I still have a lot to learn. But my 2021 peonies are better than my 2020 plein air version. I will keep pressing to make the 2022 blooms even better. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. #pleinairpainting #oilpainting #kentuckyartist Painting plein air at another beautiful Kentucky farm, I continued my experiment of painting small. Using 5x7-inch panels led to a plein air first that was twice as nice. I sketched two studies in oil in three hours, the time it usually takes me to do one painting.
I sought out the first scene that was purely landscape with no buildings or complexities. I did most of the work with a palette knife to get the effect of thick paint in the sky, trees and tall foreground grass. I seem to get cleaner, purer color with the knife. I did use the brush to smooth out edges in the distance. The second painting was back to my old ways of including a barn, but it was distant enough so I didn’t have to fuss over architecture. These quick studies are not finished, even though I signed them. I would like to consider all of these summer studies for a future, large canvas in the studio on a rainy day or, more likely, during the cold, dreariness of winter. When I got home and studied both paintings, I didn’t find too much to nit pick on the first landscape. But the second one taught lessons that I could fix in the future. The barn needs to be a lighter value. Because I have it as dark as the foreground fence post, the barn does not appear as distant as it should. I always struggle with barb wire fencing. Even the thinnest rigger brush leaves too thick of a line. I tried to scrape out half of the mark and even fade the edges with the grass. But this is something I will be aware of and can fix in a larger, studio painting. In fact, this is an example where a much larger painting might work better. Thin lines for barb wire would be easier to do when everything else in the scene would be at least four times bigger. The lesson to try is to see what happens when you go super small with a plein air oil study. This forces you to simplify and pay more attention to the focal point and exactly what struck you about the scene in the first place. This painting was at the farm near Harrodsburg of artists Tay Breene and Mac Reid. Debbie Johnson Winbun also was featured in this video. She is a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. See her work on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1683306301889691/user/1336789269/ Check out the work of talented artist Marilyn Sadler, also featured in this video: http://www.marilynsadler.com View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 See and learn more at https://www.rogersnell.com I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. I’m so enthusiastic about every outdoor scene when we gather as plein air artists that I have trouble simplifying the painting.
Today, I forced myself to be a Plein Air Simpleton. All right, my smart aleck friends probably can’t tell the difference from my normal Simpleton ways. I decided to use a little 5x7 inch panel, which required me to zoom in and simplify. I think it worked. Plus, I finished in about half the time. Paula Scott was our hostess at her Danville, Kentucky, flower garden, with irises and azaleas in full bloom. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758
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My art journey<<<These YouTube videos document my progress and art journey. Please watch and learn with me. Keep learning. Keep stretching. Keep trying. Archives
May 2021
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