Description
Book SynopsisTake your plein air artwork to the next level through easy-to-understand workshop-style lessons and skill-building exercises. In
Plein Air Techniques for Artists, award-winning artist and respected workshop instructor Aimee Erickson demystifies how to capture a variety of light effects and guides you in strengthening your plein air skills through practice. This accessible book covers:
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Materials and gear. Gain a basic knowledge of the possibilities so you can keep your options open and your plein air process fresh.
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Composition and value. Explore the impact of proportion, color, value, line, edges, shape, and texture.
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Color. Consider how knowledge and intention, your color palette, and what you see—your perspective—take turns being in charge of the color game, inventing rules and finding solutions.
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Light effects. Learn how conditions of the day—how much light there is,
Trade Review
"Award-winning oil painter Erickson’s devotion to sharing her love of plein air painting techniques is clear from the first pages of this book. This resource is a great addition to crafts collections. Suitable for both experienced artists and novices interested in this artistic practice." * Library Journal *
"Aimee Erickson demystifies how to capture a variety of light effects—from sunlight and shadow to nighttime—and every glisten and glimmer in between. Her friendly tone and accessible workshop-syyle lessons and skill-building exercises offer artists down-to-earth guidance on painting more effectively in natural light. Exceptional still lifes, figures and landscapes by noted contemporary plein air artists provide endless inspiration." * Artists Magazine *
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction
Finding “The Zone”
1 MATERIALS AND GEAR
What’s Your Medium?
Brushes and Brushstrokes
Supports: Canvas, Panels, and Paper
Plein Air Painting Kit
2 COMPOSITION AND VALUE
Making Interesting Compositions
Black and White
Sketchbook Exercise: Notan
Value
Exercise: Simplified Value Studies
3 COLOR
Speaking of Color . . .
Color Exercises
Exercise: A Color Chart, Emphasizing Value
Exercise: Color Ladders
Limited Palettes
Color Development of Value Studies
SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW
Seeing Skills: Shift Your Perception
Light, Shadow, and Color
Demonstration: Light and Shadow
on Architecture
Where to Start
Exercise: The Color of Light
Raking Light
Technique: Stain It, Draw It, Paint It
Perspective
Foreground Solutions
5 INDIRECT LIGHT
Dappled and Filtered Light
Technique: Starting with
a Mid-Tone Canvas
Demonstration: Large Scale Work
Demonstration: Dappled Afternoon Light
Overcast Light
Demonstration: A Two-Session Painting
Technique: Cutting In
Painting Makeover: Light and Shadow
Relationships
Technique: Using a Broad Brush
Shade and Reflected Light
6 BACKLIGHT
Rim Light
Contre-Jour: Against the Light
Transmitted Light
Technique: A Loose Start
Painting Makeover: Perspective
