The beauty of learning to complete an oil painting quickly and with confidence is that it opens up the possibility of painting in the landscape, where decisiveness, good observational skills and a thorough understanding of the alla prima (at the first attempt) technique are a great asset. I caught the plein-air bug just a few years ago. Uncertain whether I would enjoy it at first, I used a homemade pochade box, adapted from a simple, hinged wooden box, before investing in a readymade one. A few days painting on the North Yorkshire coast were enough to get me hooked, even though my early attempts were very hit and miss. I have learnt so much from plein-air painting and continue to do so; it's not easy but it is very satisfying.
We live in a valley flanked by National Forest woods on one side and farmland on the other, and I have become familiar with much of it on my daily dog walks. I often take a pocket sketchbook, watercolours and brushpen with me and stand to paint a ‘snapshot’ sketch of anything that catches my eye. This is a very simple and effective way to study the landscape and gather ideas for larger paintings.
It was a breezy day in late April when I set out to paint this
