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| Take time to think through your plein air composition. |
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Hi all! This is my first blog at Artist Daily, and I wanted to jump right in and discuss one of the best things I think a plein air painter can do—use a sketchbook to plan your composition and clarify your vision of the finished painting you have in mind.
Just imagine, you arrive on location to start painting. There’s a feeling that you have to get started immediately before the sun moves and the light changes. Resist the impulse! Take 10 minutes to go through the steps below to dramatically increase your chance of a successful plein air painting.
Setting up your sketchbook
Your prep begins before you leave home. Grab your sketchbook. Turn to a clean page and draw out at least 4 boxes. It’s best if you can get them all on 1 page. The boxes should be the same proportion as the surface you’re planning to paint on. I usually draw my boxes at least one inch on the short side so I have a good-sized box.
Plan out the painting
When you are at your outdoor painting site, sketch out what you’re planning on painting using 4 values or less. Keep things simple and abstract as you draw. Your drawing will show the scene in its most basic form, an arrangement of values and lines.
Keep in mind, this is a sketch. You’re just coming up with ideas. As you get used to this, you’ll spend 1 or 2 minutes per drawing. To begin with, spend no more than 5 minutes per idea.
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Plan out your painting by going through several sketches before you commit to the final version. |
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Force yourself to come up with at least 4 ideas
The first one or two will be the obvious solutions. Push yourself past the straightforward. Try raising elements way up or down in the composition. Push elements off to the sides. Zoom way in on something or back way out.
The idea is to play and come up with different ideas for the composition that ignite your imagination.
Pick the one that you like the best
Take your sheet of compositions and pick the one that you feel is the strongest. Because you kept the drawing to the same proportion as your canvas, use that as your guide as you start to place the different elements into your painting.
By going through these steps, you give yourself a chance to really see what is in front of you, to analyze the composition, and set yourself up for success. What do you do to "warm up" before jumping into the painting process?
--Jeffrey