En Plein Monitor

8x8 oil on canvas paper

I am hoping to get into the city to do some plein air painting. I think it is important to have some idea how we will approach a scene when we are out there. There are many ways to start a painting. We can do a monochrome value study, draw it in, or block it in and paint from there. In my "Plein Monitor" painting, I chose to block in with thinned paint and a large brush and work from there. I kept to a limited palette of ivory black, viridian, yellow ochre, cad red, and white. (I often use this for rainy scenes). I also worked from a black and white photo to get my values right. (I won't be able to do that out doors).

How do you approach a painting? I would love to hear some thoughts and opinions.

I will be doing the other 8 x 8 in a less limited colour palette and will post that one shortly.

Plein Air, Early Morning Light

8 x 10 oil on canvas

I have been spending some time on our sailboat and took some paints along hoping to get some plein air work in. This scene was viewed from the dock beside the boat. The early morning light was great, so I tried to sketch in the lights and darks before the light totally changed and clouds moved in.It was also very windy, so the dock was bouncing around. I got more seasick from the dock than the boat. This took about an hour and a half. I would have liked to work on it some more, but the conditions deteriorated so much, I decided to leave it as is.