Plein Air

“Plein Air” The Joys (And Challenges) Of Painting Outdoors

The sun had been been shining when I had left the comforts of home, flask in hand all topped up with Heinz (other brands are available) Tomato soup. The wind was crisp, as one should expect for Autumn, but not unbearable, in fact it was a very pleasant day to be outdoors doing any sort of outdoors thing. For me, that was sketching, oil sketching to be precise. The time honoured (and invaluable) tradition of getting ideas for new paintings. In fact it is impossible for me as a landscape painter to paint any new oils without referring to my sketches, either in pencil (2B lead usually!) water colours, probably my favorite medium thinking about it! And on occasions oil paint. So off I set keen as mustard and loaded down with my travel easel, oils and brushes, liquin, paper towels, bag for my rubbish (remember leave nothing but footprints behind when out and about) my sketchbooks and notebooks, water colours, lunch bag, folding easel, three gesso prepped boards and two small canvas, and of course two flasks, one for tea and one for soup! So why all this effort, why be loaded down like a mule and head out rather precariously into the unknown? Why is it so critical a practice to painting landscapes? Well in my view it is the only way to inspire the pictures I paint later in the studio.

Now Im not exactly breaking new ground here, very far from it in fact, as I said only a few sentences ago the “Time Honoured” tradition of heading out and drawing what you see. Maybe the word see is a little inaccurate, not record, not to copy either, no the job of a sketch is to capture a feeling, a moment you have experienced. A little note, sometimes in black and white, sometimes in colour, just to jog the memory back to that feeling you experienced. It works! Very well in fact, I have piles of sketchbooks at home as I never travel anywhere without one so am often filling them quickly, and I can look through any of them no matter how old and be reminded of exactly the moment that I experienced when I scribbled it down. I can recall the feeling of the place. The feeling of being somewhere, and even what mood I was in at the time. A sketch can be as complete or as loose as the artist desires. Mine are rarely neat or in any real order. Some are a few marks in lead with notes at the edges of the page. Others are water colours, images of the skies above me and the landscape all around me. Some are structured and more detailed, some are limited to a few sweeps of colour. Its enough for what I need. And from these I recall how the place felt, how the sky was behaving, how the light was reacting, how the trees where swaying and even the sounds around me. This is no special skill or gift, its simply slowing down and looking hard. That is the first and most important lesson for any landscape painter, looking!

So back to me, currently hauling a load of easels and flasks over a wooden stile and trudging to one of many spots I know well and always enjoy to work from. Its always different the world around us, even standing in a place we may of visited over a hundred times before. Its one of the many gifts this world gives us is its always new to look at. The sky is never the same, the clouds are always different, the light is different. We just need to stop sometimes and notice it.

So the fun begins, by that I mean setting up my travel easel. A job that never seems to go smoothly, and no matter how often I unfold it, it never seems to go to plan! But once Ive managed to wrestle it into submission, my paints are laid out on the palette, tea is poured…..I sit down. I never start painting for at least half an hour or more after setting up. This is the time I look, I filter out all the other static in my mind, and look. And I encourage anyone and everyone to do this. Sit somewhere and look. To start with your brain may be wandering, worries there still floating in the forefront, but after a time they start to sink away. And you begin to notice things. It can be some birds flying to and from a tree. It could be the way a particular tree is moving in the wind, the branches heaving up and creaking as they sway. You will take note of the clouds, their shapes and speed as they hurry across the sky. You will look up higher and see the subtle tonal change of the sky. You will see the shadows of the clouds as they roll along the plowed fields, a tractor busying itself with some sort of trailer. Oh there`s that small bird again, darting back into his tree. I start to sketch it, the sky and the clouds, the fields and the trees, all the variants before me providing a wonderful challenge of different textures and movement all preforming just for my entertainment. And as I sit or stand trying to capture these snippets and fleeting moments, it all begins to unravel slowly. You see the landscape differently, it breaks down almost into just colours and shapes all dominated by the emotive power it evokes, always so different every time. And once I have depleted my tea and soup, I begin to pack away my paints and again start a fight with my easel, I have now in my possession a few small moments that have already passed the world by, had they not been scribbled into a sketchbook that is.

There are challenges to working outdoors granted, however these I think merely add to the whole experience of being surrounded by the moments your trying to capture. It doesn't always work, many times you can find that you return with nothing that can be used for a larger painting. But sometimes the freshness of an oil sketch painted at the location it was inspired by can be somehow more evocative. And the marks on paper will always be able to transport you back to the place and the feelings it stirred within you.

Many thanks for your time

Till next time

AViner