Art and Creative Techniques
The allure of plein air painting lies in its ability to distill the fleeting, ethereal qualities of natural light into vibrant, tangible form. We learned this the hard way… Whether capturing the golden glow of a sunset or the cool, diffused illumination of an overcast day, artists who master the technique can imbue their work with a luminous lyricism that captivates the viewer. Coloured pencil, in particular, offers a versatile medium for translating these ephemeral atmospheric effects onto the page, allowing for a level of detail and control that can be more challenging to achieve with the fluid spontaneity of paint.
Painting Mediums and Techniques
Plein Air Painting: By working directly from life in the open air, artists can immerse themselves in the ever-changing play of light and shadow, temperature and atmosphere. This immediate, responsive approach to painting encourages a keen power of observation, as well as the ability to work quickly and decisively to capture the essence of a fleeting moment. Plein air painters might want to be attuned to the subtle shifts in colour and tone that occur as the sun moves across the sky, experimenting with techniques like wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry to render the fluid, ever-changing qualities of their surroundings.
Coloured Pencil Techniques: The precision and control inherent to coloured pencil make it an ideal medium for translating the delicate nuances of natural light. Artists can layer and blend colours to achieve a luminous quality, using techniques like cross-hatching, burnishing, and feathering to create a sense of depth and atmosphere. The waxy, blendable nature of coloured pencils also allows for the creation of soft-edged forms and hazy, atmospheric backgrounds that evoke the ephemeral beauty of the natural world.
Watercolour and acrylic painting offer their own unique approaches to capturing light and atmosphere, each with its own set of technical considerations. Watercolour’s fluid, transparent washes can convey the shimmering, ethereal quality of daylight, while the opaque, layered nature of acrylics lends itself well to more structured, deliberate renderings of illumination and shadow.
Drawing and Sketching
Pencil Drawing Tutorials: Pencil sketching can be an invaluable tool for the plein air painter, allowing for quick, gestural studies that capture the essential shapes, values, and compositions of a scene. Graphite pencils offer a wide range of tonal possibilities, from delicate, feathery marks to bold, expressive strokes. Techniques like hatching, cross-hatching, and shading can be used to render the play of light and shadow, while the use of an eraser can create highlights and add a sense of atmosphere.
Charcoal and ink sketching also have their own unique qualities, with charcoal’s soft, malleable strokes lending themselves well to capturing the loose, impressionistic quality of a fleeting moment, and ink’s crisp, decisive lines offering a more graphic, illustrative approach.
Principles of Artistic Design
Color Theory and Harmony: Understanding the principles of color theory is essential for the plein air painter, as the careful selection and juxtaposition of hues can dramatically impact the sense of light and atmosphere in a work. Observing the relationships between complementary colors, as well as the nuanced shifts in color temperature (warm versus cool) that occur in natural light, can help artists create a harmonious and evocative palette.
Composition and perspective, too, play a crucial role in conveying a sense of depth and dimensionality, allowing the viewer to immerse themselves in the natural scene. The strategic placement of elements, the use of overlapping forms, and the rendering of receding planes can all contribute to a heightened sense of the spatial qualities inherent to the landscape.
Capturing Natural Ephemera
Observational Art
At the heart of plein air painting lies a deep engagement with the natural world, a keen eye for observing the subtleties of form, texture, and light that animate the landscape. Whether working in coloured pencil, watercolour, or acrylic, the artist might want to develop a sensitivity to the nuanced shifts in colour, value, and atmosphere that occur throughout the day.
Capturing the unique character of natural textures—the rough bark of a tree, the smooth surface of a lake, the delicate petals of a flower—can lend a tactile, immersive quality to the work, inviting the viewer to explore the scene with all their senses. And by paying close attention to the play of light and shadow, artists can imbue their paintings with a palpable sense of atmosphere, from the warm, golden glow of morning to the soft, diffused luminance of an overcast afternoon.
Transient Inspiration
The very impetus to work plein air stems from a desire to distill the ephemeral beauty of the natural world, to harness the fleeting, ever-changing qualities of light, weather, and season. This sense of creative inspiration, of being moved by the transient wonders of the outdoor environment, can be a powerful driving force for the artist, fueling an endless exploration of new subjects, techniques, and perspectives.
Whether it’s the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves of a forest, the dramatic play of cloud shadows across a rolling hillside, or the shimmering reflections of a lake at dusk, the plein air painter might want to cultivate a keen sensitivity to these ephemeral moments, developing the technical skills and creative intuition to capture their essence on the canvas or page.
The Artist’s Portfolio
Developing a Cohesive Body of Work
As the plein air painter builds their portfolio, it’s essential to maintain a sense of thematic and technical cohesion, ensuring that each work contributes to a broader, overarching vision. This might involve exploring a particular landscape or natural environment in depth, studying the nuances of light and atmosphere across different times of day or seasons. Or it could involve experimenting with a specific medium, such as coloured pencil, to refine one’s approach to rendering the ephemeral qualities of the natural world.
Consistent technical mastery is also key, as the artist hones their skills in areas like color mixing, texture rendering, and atmospheric perspective. By developing a command of these fundamental artistic principles, the plein air painter can create a portfolio that not only captivates the viewer with its evocative subject matter, but also impresses with its level of technical sophistication.
Presentation and Display
When it comes time to present one’s work, the plein air painter might want to consider not only the visual impact of the individual pieces, but also the cohesive way in which they are displayed. Modern painting techniques like framing and mounting can play a crucial role in enhancing the luminous, atmospheric qualities of the work, protecting the delicate layers of coloured pencil or watercolour while allowing the viewer to fully immerse themselves in the captured scene.
Careful curation and arrangement of the portfolio can also help to amplify the thematic and technical connections between the works, guiding the viewer on a journey through the artist’s creative vision. Whether hung in a gallery setting or presented in a digital format, the plein air portfolio should offer a seamless, immersive experience that transports the viewer to the heart of the natural world.
In the end, the true mastery of the plein air painter lies in their ability to distill the ephemeral beauty of the outdoors into a tangible, captivating form. By harnessing the precision and control of coloured pencil, or the fluid, atmospheric qualities of watercolour and acrylic, these artists can create works that not only capture the fleeting moments of light and weather, but also evoke a deeper, more profound connection to the natural world. Their luminous, lyrical paintings become a conduit through which we can experience the wonders of the great outdoors, even from the comfort of our own homes.
Example: Pencil Portrait Challenge 2024