An Artist's Guide to Plein Air Painting Oct. 2015 | Page 13

P a g e | 12

TIPS ABOUT PAINTING:

Use small painting panels: ideal for me is the standard 20cm x 25cm
MDF or masonite panel. It is small enough to allow me to complete
the painting in about 20 to 30 minutes.
If the painting goes well the panel looks great framed in an oversized
moulding. A grand statement piece! Bigger panels can work too, but
you may spend too long on it and miss other opportunities with other
scenes.

PREPARATION

Pre-prime and tone the panels. This is a big help. I double prime the
panels in gesso or oil based primer for artists (not regular hardware
primer). Then tone the board with a wash of diluted oil paint. A warm
tone like raw sienna, burnt sienna or even red make good landscape
panels. Sometimes a cooler neutral is good such as ultramarine.
Have a few options. My panel carrier can hold 12 panels so I have a
few options on hand.

As mentioned above it helps to have an idea about what it is you
want to achieve. Do you want rolling hills? farmlands? sheep or
cattle? people on the beach? When you find a good place to set up
you will need to work quickly.
I set up my easel and squeeze out my basic paints onto the palette.
Line up my brushes and make other arrangements getting my kit
ready. I then get out the sketch book and make a couple quick value
studies to establish the darks and lights and maybe the mid-tone
areas.

An Artist’s Guide to Plein Air Painting

Malcolm Dewey