Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Plein air 29-06-2009

Gouache and watercolor sketch. I had to work fast because of the setting sun.

Monday, June 22, 2009

The bird

Because of its size (1.20 cm x 60 cm , oils) I was unable to take really good pictures of this painting. (I have to learn how to do that properly some day) , so the subleties in the colors and skin tones are a bit lost here. However the main idea of what the painting is about still comes across.

Monday, June 08, 2009

plein air 07-06-2009

I had a lot of fun doing this outdoor painting (oils: 12' x 10'). The colors on my palette were: Ultramarine, Cerulean blue, Yellow ochre, Burnt sienna and Burnt Umber. I accented the path and the yellow grass to lead the eye to the focal point: the tree.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Plein air 01-06-2009

I have been wanting to do a sketch of this site for a long time. Besides the difficult perspective, I had a hard time watersketching, because I was standing on a windy and bouncing bridge, constantly being disturbed by curious pedestrians and a quickly moving sun.
Sketching on the spot is a great way to come up with color keys, that are almost impossible to create when working from a photograph. Being a part of the environment you are painting, lets you make descisions that are essential to capture mood and atmosphere.