By LuAnn Widergren
Each plein air painting has its own unique memory for the painter. I was in a nature preserve as the sun was coming up, not too far from where I live, with plein air gear and my loyal paint dog, Sadie.
I was going to hike with Sadie first, but this was one of those scenes where I knew I needed to scramble to get it blocked in. I used mixtures of transparent earth red and cobalt blue. I was really pleased with the underpainting that looked sort of like an old sepia ink drawing in washes and lines. I debated about leaving it at that stage. I only mention this because I rarely think about stopping at the block-in stage.
Even though the scene was rapidly changing with the sunrise, I slowed down and just concentrated on color notes, giving each stroke of color as a placeholder. To avoid chasing the light, I took Sadie on her promised hike and later with a photo reference that did not do nature justice, continued the painting in the studio.
It was one of those painting experiences where I asked myself, can life get any better than this?
Connect with the artist at www.luannwidergren.com.
