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Most artists tend to be dreamers, myself included. In 2006, with just my passion for painting the wilderness, I began to let my mind wander in and around the idea of painting places I'd only dreamed about--incredibly wild and remote landscapes. Places still untouched. Magnificent lands where for...
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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 plein air painting season is drawing to a close ...
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When it comes to putting additives into your paints, it just isn't the same as eating a Twinkie or bag of Doritos. Additives are necessary in some cases, especially for landscape artists who work with varying conditions when painting outdoors . They can open up whole new aspects of your paint if...
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Sketching is information gathering and painting is translating the information. That's where I've ended up after pondering one particular comment made in response to my Wimping Out of Plein Air Painting post: "even if you are doing a plein air painting in your watercolor sketchbook - it's...
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Because the eye and the brain are constantly adjusting to the changing hues and values of sunlight and shadows when painting outdoors , it can be difficult to see those changes as they happen to our subject. If one is unaware that the original light has changed, the attempt to make adjustments can result...
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"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." --Vincent Van Gogh Moonrise Road by John Hulsey, plein air painting. Plein air painting at night in bright moonlight is great fun and a wonderful learning experience for the outdoor painting artist. With nocturnes...
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We enjoyed the recent plein air blog of artist Marion Boddy-Evans and agree with her sentiments. We have been outdoor painting for over forty years each (before the "plein air" phrase became ubiquitous) and have always felt that the value in painting outside on location was the total immersion...
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Jeffrey Watts: Weekend with the Masters art instructor Jeffrey R. Watts is a southern California native. Growing up in rural San Diego county with an artist father, Watts demonstrated an early aptitude for the visual arts. After an injury cut short his budding career in professional cycling, Watts turned...
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Ken Backhaus: Weekend with the Masters art instructor Kenn Backhaus was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and spent much of his childhood on the family farm near Burnett, Wisconsin. His fondness for nature became the catalyst for his art. Backhaus' parents encouraged his artistic education, and following...
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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 I was painting outdoors. I love to walk in the...
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The light of summer is a powerful and extreme thing. Getting effects of extreme darks and stark, searing lights is not something every painter can do. There's an acuteness of vision that must come into play to see the color that resides in the light as well. When I look at the work of pastel painting...
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The winners of our Self-Portrait Cover Competition are featured in the September issue of American Artist, and they share advice about how to paint the figure and how to maintain a successful painting practice. When we asked David Tanner, the winner of the competition, to give his advice, he offered...
Posted to
The Oil Painting Blog
by
Austin R. Williams
on
12 Jul 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: color, oil painting, plein air, still life, landscape painting, portrait painting, how to paint, Figure Drawing, Drawing Basics, Photo Reference, Art, Artist Daily
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Plein air artists are the first to tell you that you can go back to the same site over and over again during different times of day and it is like being in a whole other place. Light does that! It can turn a bright and sunny scene into a murky and mysterious place when it is taken away. Dean Mitchell...
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When plein air painting , one of the most enjoyable and facile medias I've found to work with has to be watercolors. Hands down. The supplies are minimal, you can paint quickly and move from place to place making sketches of what catches your interest, and the paintings dry so quickly that there's...
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In any painting, the biggest expenditure for the artist is the frame that goes around the finished piece. If it's a watercolor painting, there's the matting, the glazing, and the frame holding it all together; for the oil on canvas or acrylic work, it's "just" the frame, but depending...