Classroom: Plein Air Study

For last night's class, since there were only two of us and the instructor, it was decided that, rather than doing a still life, time to get some plein air painting done.

This location is near the studio in Cambridge, Vermont and was a fairly complex scene. So, as usual, the first task was to tone the canvas and lay down the masses.

Point to remember: Atmospheric effect. As you go further into the distance, the objects contain more of the atmosphere and become less distinct. The darks aren't as dark as they are in the foreground and the lights are as bright. Adding bright warm colors to the foreground will make the land flatten out and bring the closest areas to you.

This painting took a couple of hours to complete and turned out pretty well. The only issue that I had, when painting it, was the look of the water and the background mountain. For the mountain, it was too bright and I needed to add more of a greyish sky color to push it back. Fixing the water was a matter of using horizontal strokes and adding a light touch of the green landscape into it.