Plein Air Painting at McClellan Farm

This small plein air landscape shows clouds in a blue sky. The trees and ground are minimally painted.

Plein Air Sketch in Neersville, VA.  5"x7" oil on linen panel.  2013.

A plein air sketch that I did at a paint-out in Neersville, VA last week.  It's the sketchiest of sketches, but I like the simplicity of painting like this and being free just to react to the scene before me.  I didn't feel the need to overwork the painting on location and somehow I resisted making changes back to the studio.

 

A plein air painting set up using a half-box Jullian easel.

This was my set up.

For plein air work I've started taping a piece of linen to the piece of hardboard that doubles as my palette cover rather than carrying around a panel or stretched canvas.  If I like the painting I glue the linen to a panel at a later date.  It makes the whole thing feel a lot less formal and along with working at a smaller size lessens the pressure of trying to create paintings in the field. I've managed to keep a larger percentage of the paintings started this year.


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