Plein Air Diary day 7-12: feeling more confident, Levitan study, new setup and supplies! 🖼️

hi patrons! here is another update to my plein air adventures for Adventure April!

I've decided from now on, I will be purely working in gouache! Most of the struggle so far with this challenge has been the supplies portion, and I figured keeping it simple and consistent for the rest of the sessions would help me learn more than constantly switching from watercolor to gouache.

Day 7: Incense Holder Traditional Watercolor from Life 25 minutes

This was a difficult day for me, so I decided to attempt to paint something simple and small, a little incense burner of Steven’s and study the reflected light and color on the surface. Through the process of painting this, i struggled a lot with the paper pilling up. I guess this sketchbook paper is more so meant for light washes of color rather than the puddles I painted. I had to wait large periods of time for them to dry, and the outcome of the color was really hard to judge because of this. I still think it turned out okay and definitely captures the light that I saw, but it really made me want

Day 8: Oakleaf Philodendron Traditional Gouache from Life 35 minutes

Okay my iphone ran out of storage so I didn’t capture a lot of this painting process but this one was a good change from all of the watercolor painting, and by this time, I have decided to use gouache for the rest of the challenge. Most of the struggle so far with this challenge has been the supplies portion, and I figured keeping it simple and the same for the rest of the sessions would help me learn more than constantly switching from watercolor to gouache.

I went really saturated at first to push myself with color, I realized a lot of my paintings so far have been more muted and pale, so i was trying to push the color in the leaves. stepping back, i think overall the subject is wayy to bright, being that it was lit by overcast lighting from a window. But I am happy I tried to push the color and be more bold with my painting choices.

Which I did purchase some new supplies that should be coming on day 10!

Day 9: Oakleaf Philodendron Pt. 2 Traditional Gouache from Life 25 minutes + Isaac Levitan Master Study

I wanted to try painting the same plant again in a different lighting setting for today, as well as the composition, pushing the subject more off to the side and using the leaves as visual movement and gesture. I I think I found more success in this version, and I had some fun playing around with some pastel purples, greens and blues that were in the curtains behind th subject.I also feel like I finaly got an accurate desk color. This window wasn’t catching direct light, so a lot of blue ambient light from the sky was hitting the desk causing this purple ish tan color.

Today I also decided to do a quick master study of an Isaac Levitan painting. I’ve done traditional master studies like this before and I always find them so helpful in learning new ways in how to paint things. In this piece, I was specifically looking at the different hue ranges of the trees, from the dark shadows to the cool green to the warmer green that’s being directly hit from the sun. Once I get back outside to paint, I want to implement what I’ve learned.

Day 10: Steven Traditional Gouache from Photograph 25 minutes

I checked the tracking on the supplies the morning of the 10th and realized they would not be coming until the 11th, (Blick you lied to me!! ) so I put off painting until the evening. This day was a whirlwind of projects, I think I was working on the Apple Jack project, finishing up a channel video, finishing a thumbnail, recording extra b-roll bits, writing notes for my sticker club patrons- it was a lot! And I was dealing with some tax filing issues that were stressing me out. So, I took it easy that night, and treated myself to painting my boyfriend from a photography I took earlier that day.

I “CHEATED” OKAY loll I missed my chance to paint while the sun was still up and with being so exhausted from the day I didn’t want to setup an artificial lighting setup so painting from photograph was better than not painting at all. And that’s the main goal of this challenge, to just get me to paint more.

I was really paying attention to the temperature changes of the figure. Steven was lit from a cool ambient window light from the left, and bright, warm, dominant sunlight from the right, so I wanted to paint him with cooler/bluish green tones on the left as you can see in his shirt and the top of his head, and warmer/orange tones on the right on his shirt and hair.

Day 11: FINALLY GOT MY NEW SUPPLIES! Steven Traditional Gouache from Life 25 minutes

This was the first time using the new paints and the new setup.

Once again, I had a very long, and slightly overwhelming day, so it really felt like I was trekking uphill with this one. I didn’t have the best lighting set up to see the colors I was mixing since it was at night, but painting Steven is always so much easier than anything else.

I was using “real gouache” for the first time, and by that I mean not using the usually acrylic gouache I have been painting with for a couple years now. I bought some Windsor and Newton Designer’s Gouache Tubes and I was already blown away by the pigment quality and stretch, as well as the mixability of the paints. Traditional gouache is re-wettable unlike acrylic gouache, so It was really interesting playing around with it on my palette and shifting tones on paper.

This definitely wasn’t the best portrait ever, but it was fun unwinding from a hard day, painting my love, and using new paints!

Day 12: Cityscape painting Traditional Gouache from life 25 minutes

This was my first time using the full setup outside, using my tripod, travel pochade box, and my new paints to travel into the city and paint some architecture form across the street. I had no expectations for this painting, and I’m glad I didn’t because it turned out like this lol.

First- the road noises of cars driving by, beeps of cars, people walking by, and overall outside noises were distracting and hard to block out since I’m not used to it. I think I also struggled with this since it’s architecture, which is definitely not my strong suit with painting. I just didn’t feel very confident at all, with using my new paints and being out in public painting, and it definitely shows through the painting. But it was still super fun, and using the pochade box on the tripod was much more ergonomic for me. Overall, even though it was challenging it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the process <3

Alright, this has been a super long log! That is what has been going on in my recent plein air escapades. It's been fun and rewarding to paint everyday even if they aren't that great, and I hope this inspires you to get outside and draw for Adventure April!

love, shay <33