Plein Air April Diary Days 13-19 Halfway through!

I feel like I am sort of getting the hang of things with my new supplies and setup, and have actually painting outside more instead of the still life's! It's still incredibly challenging, but fun to see how my approach changes with each day.

Let me know how Adventure April is going for you in the comments down below! What are you up to in your sketchbook?

Day 13: Red Plum Study Traditional Gouache from Life 25 minutes + Edgar Payne Study 20 minutes

Back to my cozy studio, this day I did a small plum study, specifically observing how the outside ambient blue light and the inside warm studio light changes the temperature of the plums. This time, I put a lot more paint on my brush, and focused on painting them larger so I could really describe that transition of temperature. With the previous paintings, I noticed I was feeling very timid and scared of using my paint, painting smaller, and with lighter washes, so I was directly trying to combat this.

And I think this session was a lot more successful! The plums feel believable, and painting in my quiet studio was a lot more comfortable than painting outside so it was easier to focus.

I had some extra paint on my palette, and since it was the weekend I had some extra time, I decided to do a quick Edgar Payne study, looking at color and light, and absorbing as much atmospheric color information from his work that I can further put into my own paintings. After painting it, I realized I still had reader mode on my computer monitor, so mine ended up a lot warmer and greener lol.

Day 14: Mossy Tree at Sunset Traditional Gouache from Life 25 minutes

I really wanted to paint during sunset this day, so I picked a cool looking tree and got to work! I remember really trying to break the tree down in different parts, the warm highlights from the sunset, the cooler greens in shadow, the almost teal ambient lit leaves from the sky, and the deep purple of the trunk, moss, and darker shadows of the tree.

Once again, really trying to break down the temperature relationships in the tree, keeping myself focus on simplifying, and only adding detail and using my smaller brush towards the end.

The weather was breezy and cool in stark contrast to when I originally planned to paint that day in the afternoon. I’m so glad I did, because this process was really peaceful and grounding.

Day 15: Sunrise Traditional Gouache from Life 20 minutes

This one was definitely a fail. What started as a super cloudy morning as I was painting quickly shifted into barely any clouds, and I really struggled to match the blue I was seeing in the sky with the blue I could achieve with my palette. I was trying to warm up my ultramarine blue with some yellow but it didn’t really work. I’ll have to experiment with my palette to try to achieve that sky blue because what I thought was going to be a simple painting ended up being incredibly difficult to color mix for. Th painting ended up really muddy and streaky due to trying to fix and using too much water. I definitely want to try a skyscape again because this was so bad lol

Day 16: Steven Portrait Traditional Gouache from Life 25 minutes

I was planning on painting from life around noon today but it was wayyy to hot, so I opted to wait until the evening to try my hand at another portrait painting of Steven. I think the structure is successful in this piece, but the various temperatures in the planes of the face didn’t work out as I wanted it to. The cheek that is facing us is way too dark and purple, but overall the structure of the painting is good.

Day 17: Trees at Sunset Traditional Gouache from Life/photograph 25 minutes

And now for the opposite problem! I think I nailed the temperature of this tree and house scene really well at this moment of sunset. The trees turned this orangish red and the green of the leaves warmed up so much. I can really feel the warmth in this painting, but I think it’s lacking structure and certainty. I like the composition, but I think I failed to add more structure and intentional detail to areas that needed it.

I do feel like these past couple of paintings have been more watercolor like than I wanted it to be, so the next day I really want to plan to use more paint and be more bold.

Day 18: Tree at Sunset #2 Traditional Gouache from Life 25 minutes

I got out to the same spot a little bit earlier so I could catch more of the early sunset light on the same subject. I definitely used more paint on my brush, and was more bold with my color choices. I really liked how pink the moss was illuminated by the setting sun, but I definitely got lost in my values a little bit. Once again, I think the temperature is captured well, but the structure and form of the subject falls apart. I noted to really focus on this for the next plein air painting.

Day 19: House on the Corner Traditional Gouache from life and photo

Another challenging painting! I took more time on an under-drawing with this session due to the subject being architecture and wanting the painting to have more structure. I even did little value thumbnails in another sketchbook to plan out how I want to approach this scene. I remember really struggling with getting the right gray/green color for the house in shadow, but i felt much more confident about my value structure after having such a hard time with it in the last painting.

I even attempted the same scene again later from photograph to try and be more exact with my brushtrokes in the trees and in my hues in the house, but ultimately, I think the first attempt is still stronger.

I was also thinking at this point, do I need to get a black for my plein air palette? or pre-mix larger quantities of paints in little paint pots? I was watching a Sara Burns Video and she brought this palette box of premix and pre-prepared gouache paint and it gave me some of my own ideas for how I want to evolve my painting setup moving forward.

Okay that's it for now! I can't believe (as I am finishing up this post it's 4/21) that we are already 2/3 of the way through the month. Insane how fast it's been going, but I have been having so much fun with plein air and the other projects I'm working on. Thank you all so much for the support, and make sure to share your Adventure April posts on Instagram or on Discord and tagged me! <333

love, shay <3