I love taking advantage of the spring flowers and the opportunity to paint on location- plein air- at this time of the year. Painting plein air in watercolor is quite a challenge, as you cannot take the time to wait while your painting drys in stages, or employ glazes like you do when working in the studio. Plein air painting requires you to capture the essence as quickly as possibly and not worry about the details so much. I think painting in plein air is essential to an artist being able to understand form and the way light interplays on the objects of your subject matter. Seeing this first hand enhances your ability to interpret light, when you are back in the studio working from reference shots. . Plein air paintings have a spontaneity and freshness about them that gets lost many times in studio work.
I like how abstract the flower clusters and the backgrounds are treated to form interesting patterns -- the painting captured life and growth with its joyful brushwork. How lovely!
ReplyDeleteHi Arena, thank you for the comment. Yes, I try to utilize abstract shapes and patterns in whatever I am painting, as that is the best way to synthesize complicated subjects down. They really are all abstract shapes and colors, and if we approach them that way to begin with, then we can leave some if we wish, and continue to create more realism touches as far as we want to go with it. I think a painting should be able to be stopped at any point, and the abstract "read" of the subject matter/image should be there long before the top detail define it too much. This approach certainly is the way to go in plein air when you have to capture an image quickly.
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