Plein air color sketches


Fall Color
 5 x 7
Oil on panel


Morning Light in the Woods
9 x 12
oil on canvas panel

With the gorgeous fall color outside, I headed out into our backyard to do some quick color sketches in the morning light.  The light shifted drastically within an hour, so the paintings didn't get finished outside.  But I did manage to get a closer representation of the color without having be all gray once I came in.
 

The first one I did came from a path that disappeared into the woods in our backyard.  The light shifted so fast that I found myself muddying everything.  The photo was taken after I painted and more shadow was in the foreground, and less highlights appeared down the path.

 


Still, I persisted and turned to paint a beautiful fall tree.  Again the light shifted and more shadow appears in the photo than in the scene I was painting.

The goal was to paint outside and be able to come inside and have similar color values, without having the paintings look darker and grayer on bringing them in.  I think I managed to do this as the photos of the paintings were taken inside.  So step one in plein air painting is a success!  Now I just have to repeat it . . . consistently . . . a million times more. . .




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