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.
The editorial above is part of a series that spotlights the work of an accomplished plein air artist featured in PleinAir magazine.
Published bi-monthly, PleinAir magazine is focused on landscape paintings by historical and contemporary artists, art collections, events, and the process of creating plein air paintings. Beautifully designed with rich reproductions on high-quality paper, PleinAir features the top artists and artworks from around the world. Start your subscription here.
Story prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today
