Plein Air Blog : Landscape Painting

Summer Wind Patterns

Robert Reynolds — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:43:00 GMT

As we all start getting ready to step outside our studios and paint outdoors or create studio landscape painting based on our experiences in nature, I wanted to explain the design elements that I put together for this particular painting, Summer Wind...(read more)

Stairways to Heaven

johnandann@theartistsroad — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 04:56:00 GMT

"Of the original phenomena, light is the most enthralling." - Leonardo da Vinci Crepuscular rays are those wonderful beams of light we see at the beginning or end of the day that appear to radiate from the single point of the sun and stream...(read more)

Power to the Pencil

johnandann@theartistsroad — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 04:10:00 GMT

With so much interest in plein air painting these days, it's easy to overlook how important drawing skills can be to the landscape painting artist. Fundamentally, drawing is both a way of seeing and a way of knowing a subject. If you can draw it,...(read more)

Dark Shadows

johnandann@theartistsroad — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 04:30:00 GMT

Why go to the trouble of painting from life when our cameras can take such great pictures? Digital cameras have gotten so good at taking properly exposed, beautiful photos that they can fool us into thinking that they are also accurate. To be sure, the...(read more)

It's Not Because I'm Lazy

Marion Boddy-Evans — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 04:15:00 GMT

You’re in a beautiful plein air painting location, you whip out your camera and take photograph after photograph – it's essential to have lots of references for landscape painting, you know. Then you dig out your sketchbook, pencils, and...(read more)

See the Forest NOT the Trees

johnandann@theartistsroad — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:48:00 GMT

"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky." - Khalil Gibran Perhaps the biggest challenge for those of us who paint from life is to see and understand what is right before our eyes. This may sound simple, but it is anything but, and...(read more)

Ways of Interpreting Color: Studio vs. Plein Air

Mitchell Albala — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:04:00 GMT

In plein air we attempt a form of direct translation. In the studio, we may recall our observations of nature, but are freer to be inventive with color. Night Passage by Mitchell Albala, 2006, oil painting on panel, 20 x 20. It's September and the...(read more)

Wimping Out of Plein Air Painting

Marion Boddy-Evans — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:59:00 GMT

Whenever I end up in a conversation where other artists start talking about the kit they take with them when plein air painting --and it often starts with what plein air easel is the best--I tend to keep quiet. Very quiet. A page from my sketchbook when...(read more)

That Time of Year

johnandann@theartistsroad — Tue, 22 May 2012 03:32:00 GMT

Recently we added an informative article to the members' area of The Artist's Road called "Understanding Light in the Landscape: The Carlson Theory of Angles." It gives the student a crucial tool to make sense of the confusing array...(read more)

Value Division in Landscape Painting

Mitchell Albala — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:55:00 GMT

Landscape values are easier to understand when viewed as falling into four major divisions or zones. Reading values in landscapes is somewhat different from reading values in other subjects. All subjects have a light source, but the source in a landscape...(read more)

Same Subject, Different Visions

Mitchell Albala — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:33:00 GMT

On Location with Michael Stasinos and Mitchell Albala It never ceases to amaze me how unique each painter's vision can be—in everything from the subjects they choose to the color choices they make or the type of painterly handwriting they use...(read more)

Playing Studio Detective with a Monet Painting

Mitchell Albala — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:30:00 GMT

If there were any artist, past or present, into whose studio I could magically transport myself and observe him paint, it would be Claude Monet. I have always been intrigued by his painting style, especially his highly textured and complex surfaces. When...(read more)

Don't Let Your Plein-Air Skills Grow Cold

Jennifer King — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:37:00 GMT

Don't give up your plein air focus over the winter months. Try to paint from life indoors and keep sketching. ( Melting Snow by Ben Fenske, 60 x 75, oil on canvas.) For some of us, winter weather is just a bit too unpredictable and chilly to spend...(read more)

Such a Diversity of Shapes in Her Landscape Paintings

Mitchell Albala — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 04:45:00 GMT

Turquoise Sky 3 , acrylic on panel, 5 x 5. All works by Lisa Snow Lady. I give a lot of credit to professional and semi-professional artists who seek out ongoing training or the advice of peers, even after their initial successes. I firmly believe that...(read more)

Free Video Lesson on Color Strategies in Plein Air Painting

Mitchell Albala — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:15:00 GMT

This short video is excerpted from a demonstration I gave at my annual plein air painting workshop in Skagit Valley, Washington. ( Gage Academy of Art , July, 2010.) The video talks about painting strategies in general and gives specific examples of the...(read more)