Saturday, July 17, 2010

Room...With A View


This was my first attempt at plein air painting, but ninety percent of it was completed in my studio. Using a technique I'd never tried prior to this, I floundered and made some huge drawing errors which I was able to correct at home using a reference photo. The whole experience was quite overwhelming, but a lot of fun nonetheless. I found it interesting how so much information was lost in a photo, and ended up having to wing it. For example, the shaded areas were very flat with little or no value and colour information, but fortunately I had some value clues even though the underpainting was weak. Not all is lost if even a small part of the painting is done from life. In finishing this piece at home, it became a lot more detailed than I originally had intended.

oil on board 

10" x 8"

5 comments:

  1. This is great Vern and I know what a struggle plein air is! I am constantly being told to keep on - it will come right eventually! But I'm waiting for Summer before I try again.

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  2. Looks great, Vern. And, what a learning experience.

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  3. Your bravery is more than mine, everything is inside with me.

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  4. It's great, Vern. I think your color choices are superb. I applaud you- I find plein air overwhelming. It's so difficult to simplify when presented with so much visual info. You retained the freshness of the scene even after corrections back in the studio.

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