Plein Air 1.0

“Plein Air” painting is the painting on landscapes on location, which are French words meaning, “In open air”.  Painters have done this type of on location painting for centuries. Some popular plein air painters are Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and James Whislter, to name a few. These painters put massive miles on their brushes and it showed then and now, timeless.

Putting miles on the brush to practice painting nature was the main goal today. However, as one starts doing this the perception of nature can be viewed as a portrait, figure, or still life. There are many curves, colors, and organic shapes which if seen with greater perception one could see and feel a greater body then what the surface reads. Reading nature is primarily dependent on the light source and will always play a major part in depicting mood and shadows.

The light source can be natural or man made as with all sorts of landscapes; although, natural light source in my opinion is the best light source (at least at the time being).  Today I had an opportunity to put miles on my brushes, read and paint nature from the light source of the sun.

My first stop was by a highway. The traffic was mellow of sorts, and the smog was making me weary of returning to that location. I spent countless minutes there because time was on my side, and I came there to do a simple study nothing more or less, nor striving to be perfect. My goal was to engage the composition and work on atmosphere perspective. As for my second stop, It was a bit more remote and mosquitoes were thirsty, mosquito off was super suggested, yet the birds chirped harmoniously, climate was next to perfect; and I couldn’t be happier.

This will conclude my blog for now… Stay tuned as I continue my plein air travels and others works as they develop. Also please take a look at the pictures here and see more of how and where I spent my day painting today.

Artfully yours.

~Moysays