The Next Best Thing to Plein Air

Lately, I have really had the desire to paint outside. Somehow I just haven’t got to it!

So the other day I was inspired by a UK artist Lewis Noble who is a Plein Air painter and during quarantine painted from a video he took while walking his dog. I loved the idea and thought I would give it a try.

I took a short video on the shoreline of the ocean close to my house. It is quite rugged.

I then came back to my studio and gathered some supplies. I used a brown paper bag from the grocery store that I had gessoed to paint on. This way there was no pressure.

I got out a few supplies, including a couple from my “things to use or loose box” .

I used fat charcoal, Chinese Ink, Acrylic ink, two tube greens and some rubbing alcohol. For tools I used a one inch flat brush, a bamboo skewer, a small foam brush, my fingers, and a water bottle.

I worked fast while the video was rolling. I played it through a few times and froze it in a couple of places.

I tried to capture the movement of the grasses, the lines of the branches and the ruggedness of the shoreline.

It is a very intuitive approach and much different than painting from a photograph with very different results. I am definitely going to do more of this!

Take One

I especially like the twigs in the white area of this one.

Take Two

The seam of the bag creates a line.