For Artists Who Love the Outdoors

Welcome to my plein air blog. I'm a watercolour artist who like so many others has felt the need to commit to plein air painting. In June of this last year I decided to try to do one plein air piece a week, and up until late fall, I was able to keep to that commitment. Then winter hit, and living in Calgary, my last plein air painting was in early November, but while I'm in Arizona, I can get back outside with my pochade and paint kit.

I spent a great day at the Lost Dutchman State Park yesterday, and I was able to complete the first of what I hope will be a series of pieces based on Superstition Mountains. I hope to capture different views, different times of day and different feelings toward the mountain over the next few months, like Paul Cezanne did. In short, I'd like to obsess a little over the great outdoors. 

Just being outside in January in shorts is beyond belief! We hiked for an hour along the base of the mountain, and I know we will have to climb it before we leave.

One other note - selecting the colours for my palette changes with different landscape locales. That's not the case for all artists, I know, and there aren't as many differences as you might think between Alberta and Arizona landscapes, but I'll likely take the next few pieces to work out any palette changes.

Here are the colours that I've selected for my basic plein air palette: French Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Violet, Green Gold, Serpentine Green, Deep Yellow, Winsor Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Scarlet Lake, Indian Red, Burnt Sienna. Having a restricted number of pans forces me to make harder and better initial choices. However, I find with plein air work, I'll likely use only about 4 or 5 of these paints for any one painting. I restrict my palette choices more than I would in the studio, and I generally make most of my choices before I pick up a brush. It's interesting, and quite unlike my approach in doing studio work.

I'm planning on another plein air session tomorrow, so we can continue the conversation if you like.