Painting outdoors is a way for me to connect with nature, light and my surroundings and to truly see my subject. The act of trying to capture a moment transcends my busy mind. For that hour or two, I simply paint and respond. It is my preferred way to work, as I simply love being outside!
There are many fundamentals to consider when painting en plein air but probably none of them elicit quite the emotional response that colour does. Colour is one of the main reasons it is advantageous to paint from life rather than from a photo or sketch. Tone, composition, drawing and surface are all important to consider in a painting but for me, it is colour that is the main hook.
For this demonstration painting, below, I knew I wanted to make the most of the winter light, which was creating strong blues and mauves and quite a high-key colour palette. I returned to a spot I have painted before. The strong but simple coastal composition faces north east and, lit by the glancing afternoon sun, resulted in the most saturated colour, with an interesting interplay between light and shadowed areas.
I worked on a 9½X11¾in (24X30cm) in around one-and-a-half hours, by which time the scene will have changed too much to continue.
