Lessons I have learned for Plein Air painting

Always do a value study of what you like immediately.
Use this value study to block in your painting with the values in similar but darker colors that the true color.Check your design for lines to the focal point, does your eye move around the painting? No tangents,etc.
Do not follow the light. Keep your highlights the same as when you first viewed them as the light changes so fast.
Block in the color values.
Step back 15 to 30 feet and view the painting at this stage and make sure it WORKS! View in a mirror to catch any lines that are off or color values not true.
When this is all done, then and only then do you fill in the light values on top of the dark and think about the details. The secret is to wait and be patient for the base must be there before you can do the details. The painting should work without the details from a distance.

Abandoned

Painted this morning at the abandoned Dairy Farm in Mansfield,OH. It is falling into disrepair! More deteriorated than last year. vines growing, weeds growing, etc. It was a beautiful day to paint. I started with a Quinacradone Rose tone then blocked in my darks, Then started mixing greens, dark to light, then the whites, not really white but blue, lavender,green lighted by white, then the brick shadows and lights and lastly the highlights and light leaves. Did the grass and path last. A fun painting, one I have wanted to do since last year.

Disappointment

The Lakeside Boat Show and Art Festival was a disappointment to me. I was disenchanted with my paintings that I did during the Festival and also disappointed that there were no sales even of prior paintings that I thought were done well. I did get many compliments from many people and that was somewhat satisfying.

Summer Fountain

I am fascinated with water in a fountain. I feel I caught the water and the light. I blocked in the large shapes with a darker than the final color so the lights could be added on top. I like this painting.