Plein Air Painting - Using a viewfinder to select your subject
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| The hardest part of painting outdoors on location is narrowing down the giant panorama into smaller more manageable views which can be sketched or painted quickly. All three of these sketches and paintings were done on location in Zion National Park as part of the "In the Footsteps of Thomas Moran" Plein Air Invitational Competition. |
1. Zion National Park presents some spectacular scenery
at every turn. When I take students there they inevitably struggle with
"where to start". I often encourage them to use their camera
viewfinder to narrow down the options. In this case I chose an intriguing
rock formation above Temple of Sinawava and did a quick pencil study in
my travel sketchbook. After making the sketch, I can either continue
with a quick watercolor study, or use my drawing back in the studio for
a larger painting later. Either way I've spent my time wisely. |
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2. Instead of looking for the big picture, I looked a little closer at the rock formations above me and found an interesting pattern of light and shadow on the rock face. I framed the small scene and did a location study on the spot in watercolor. Remember, there are many wonderful views if we take a more intimate look at our surroundings. |
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3. Instead of worrying about the foreground, with all
its interesting fallen logs and shrubs, I raised my view to the place
where the afternoon shadow started to crawl across the cliffs of Heaps
Canyon in Zion. By leaving out the foreground I could move the viewer
quickly to my center of interest. This was painted on location as part
of the "In the Footsteps of Thomas Moran" plein air invitational
competition in Zion National Park. |
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