How Do I know What to Paint En Plein Air

April 19 2022

I was recently asked “How do you know what to paint?” My answer is, “in two distinct ways”.

Firstly. Design

Values: I look for mass darks and light values that create an interesting abstract shape.
Lines: I look for a lead in line that allows a path into the focal point. If there isn’t an obvious one, then I create one.
Focal Point: Is there a specific area of interest I can use?

Secondly: Intuitively

This develops over time. There is an instinctive reaction to a scene that I feel. It could be that I like the subject matter, such as an old boat, or the effects of light such as blue shadows on the snow.

I take a few photo reference shots. It may be that I use the plein air piece as the composition but I always take a variety of shows with different angles and exposures.

If I focus on the sky, it allows the camera to capture the lighter colours, and I will lose the details in the dark.

I will also take another photo focusing on the dark areas which gives that that information but the sky will become a bland washed out colour.

I don’t want to spend all my time setting up camera shots but the variety will give me enough information I can use for a studio piece.

Next I compose the basic shapes on paper. This helps me decide what I want to include or eliminate. It helps to simplifying the scene. I didn’t want the distraction of the homes, trees and all the shrubbery to take away from the scene. The final image of the plein air piece shows how, by painting en plein air, how I can capture the actual values and colours.