En Plein Air: Light & Color: Expert techniques and step-by-step projects for capturing mood and atmosphere in watercolor

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Take your watercolor painting beyond the studio—learn how to effectively use color and light to capture mood, create atmosphere, and convey emotion on location.

Geared for beginning artists, En Plein Air: Light & Color introduces a variety of techniques for on-location watercolor painting. Following a brief introduction to the basics of painting en plein air and an overview of the necessary tools and materials, you will learn how to choose a subject and paint a compelling outdoor composition using the subtleties of watercolor to create beautifully expressive subjects and themes.

Other important topics include perspective, rendering the background and foreground, capturing both urban and pastoral landscapes, mastering color to convey weather and time of day, and much more. From choosing just the right subject to awaiting the perfect time of day, let En Plein Air: Light & Color guide you in your artistic travels as you explore this daring and expressive medium.

Painting outdoors is a rewarding, peaceful experience full of joy, adventure, and persistence. Let the En Plein Air Series guide you in your artistic travels as you explore this daring and expressive method of painting, wherever you may be.

From the Publisher

En Plein Air: Light & Color: Expert techniques and step-by-step projects for capturing mood and atmosphere in watercolor

Introduction

Whether sitting with my sketchbook at a Parisian café or bracing my easel against the wind and rain on a bluff overlooking a Scottish harbor, painting outdoors is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of my work. While these are the ideal locations for the plein air painter, finding the beauty in an alley or looking for new painting spots can be just as fulfilling. The knowledge that beauty and fulfillment are a mere stone’s throw away constantly pulls me outside to record the world around me.

Materials

I have drawn and painted on site for the last 30 years. In the early days, this was mostly in my sketchbook, but in the last decade, I have shifted to using an easel—this has made my work move in ways I never intended. It’s a whispered truth from one artist to another, typically starting with the phrase, “When I began to go outside…”

You don’t need a sports car to get from point A to point B. It may be quicker and more luxurious, but in the end you still arrive in the same spot taking a bus. That said, and the same is true with art, your materials should be the best you can afford. However, you should also be aware that just because something costs more, it does not mean it will perform better.

Sketchbook

A sketch is a quick expression of where you are rather than a lengthy explanation.

I am often asked what advice I would give to someone wishing to improve their watercolors. My answer is invariably the same: Grab your sketchbook and go outside. Record the world around you. Don’t save it for trips to exotic locations. Take it to the places that you know well. From there you begin the journey of discovery of the places you may think mundane or underwhelming. I’ve done some of my favorite work in the alleys of the small railroad town I live in—places no one would consider beautiful or worthy of a second look. Training yourself to see and record those moments is at the heart of what I think is the beginning of every artist’s journey.

Drawing on Location

These rules work for both interior and exterior spaces. Print out a few photographs and try to fi nd the horizon and vanishing points yourself.

Note how the windows and other objects on the perpendicular plane seem close to a perfect horizontal. In one-point perspective, make it easy on yourself and draw them as such.

Horizon Line—I took this photograph from a higher vantage point facing forward. Your horizon will shift up or down depending on your vantage point.

Think about the vanishing point being the hand of a clock. All parallel lines radiate from this place on the horizon.

The vanishing point will always cross the horizon as long as you are looking forward. If you tilt your head up or down, the horizon will become skewed.

How to see complex shapes in a simple way: 1. Look for action lines. 2. Find your keyhole, if one is available. 3. Establish your horizon line. 4. Define the boundaries of your composition. 5. Simplify your geometry. 6. Move or remove anything that distracts from the composition. 7. Create thumbnail studies.

Composition, Light & Color

When I was a student, I was expected to create multiple solutions to any design problem with which I was presented.

The working theory was that typically your initial solution was not the best, and that by pressing forward with completely different ideas, you would eventually hit pay dirt. Think of the thumbnail sketch as a series of solutions, and be aware of the varied solutions at your disposal.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve watched students begin a sketch without thinking through the scene or doing any preliminary line work. The results are typically the same: They end up with a weak

composition or—worse—run out of space on the page. Thus starts the first stage of chaos. They find themselves with a drawing they are not particularly fond of, but they press on because they don’t want to ruin their efforts. When actual painting begins, the problems become more obvious, as they have not worked out what they want. The end result almost always ends in frustration. Still, this is an incredible teaching tool.

No one wants to actively sabotage their work, but by taking the shortcut, they are almost assuring its demise. Once a painting has gone past the point of saving, you are much better off starting over. It’s just paper. Teaching yourself to plan accordingly is an investment that will pay dividends. Take a minute or two to think about what you do when you prepare for a painting.

Give yourself every opportunity for success. Create a process, follow it, adjust it, and repeat. Don’t put pressure on yourself to succeed every time you pick up a brush. Instead, embrace the idea of successful failure. A failed painting is the first step in teaching yourself something important.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Walter Foster Publishing (April 13, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1633228347
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1633228344
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.45 x 0.85 x 10.9 inches