Finally, the final highlights were added to some of the buildings, before adding a few windows, keeping them simple and random - detail at this distance will completely destroy a painting.
The foliage was given a touch more colour, and after brushing in a few small feathery clouds to break up the sky mass, it was time to call this one complete.
As I mentioned in an earlier paragraph, these are only intended as working sketches, and not finished paintings, although the immediacy of working plein air does, in my opinion, add its own unique style to a painting.
A few final thoughts …
Working both plein air and alla prima is a challenge in itself. Not only do you have to contend with the outdoor elements, you are adding wet paint over wet paint, and that can create its own problems, picking up layers of colour underneath being the obvious one.
All my initial brush work in this demonstration was applied thinly, no medium, just neat English distilled turpentine. This evaporated in the warm Mediterranean climate within minutes, so that issue didn’t arise on this occasion.
Generally speaking, if you apply your paint by working from thin to thick you shouldn’t encounter any major problems.
If you do pick up paint from a previous layer, which is inevitable, this can often yield some interesting results, so use these to your advantage.
Don’t worry about any working lines showing through from your initial drawing out stage, these can add interest and shows the development – leave them! It’s always worth mentioning again, but when painting outdoors, I’m not looking to produce a ‘masterpiece’ each time. Simply to say something about the scene that first inspired me. It doesn’t matter how the final painting turns out – as long as I’ve enjoyed the experience and have something to show for my effort.
Mistakes will be part of the painting process for all of us, disappointment at times of course, but we aren’t looking for perfection, we can’t, and don’t strive to achieve that!
Working plein air is such an enjoyable experience. It allows me more freedom to express the scene in front of me without the restrictions of say working from my own photographs in a studio environment.
Time is always the main criteria due to changing light and weather conditions, so working with more urgency than when I’m in the studio will often bring out the best in me – well most of the time!
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