Developing Large Paintings from Plein Air Sketches

Developing large oil paintings is part science, part art and a certain amount of planning and intuition. In the end even the best painters can mess it up and have to restart, so don't beat yourself over the head if it takes you several tries..or 50 tries to get it right.

Let me say that I study art manuals all the time. I'm continuously trying to improve my techniques and you should too.

I'm working on producing my first large work since arriving in Moab. It's based on the plein air painting I did on Monday called, "Winter Breath". Above is a full scale 16" x 20" pencil drawing that I've reworked about 6 times in the last 2 days. Notice the lines drawn at the 1/3 and 2/3 distances both horizontally and vertically. Also note the lines from corner to corner. These 6 lines are crucial for laying out the objects within the painting, including the lead in line.

You should know that I took photos the day of the plein air, then I went back out yesterday and shot a dozen more detail shots of rocks, bushes and canyon walls. the details will become important in the negative space for adding detail to shadow areas.


Below is the plein air sketch that I will use for all color references....DO EVERYONE A FAVOR AND RELY ONLY ON YOUR PLEIN AIR PAINTINGS FOR COLOR REFERENCES. PHOTOS ARE ONLY GOOD FOR SHAPES!!! In the next blog I will cover the actual canvas techniques that I used.