Sunday, July 26, 2009

Using Plein air Paintings for Studio Reference



While at the Jim Norton Workshop in Wyoming, we painted three horses from life. These were not completed studies, but rather an intense focus on the horse. Last week, I combined some of my photo reference with the information I recorded in the studies I did from life. I was of immense help to have the paintings I did on location to recall colors and values that were completely missing in my photo reference. Painting the horse from life is such a valuable tool for me. It allows me to connect with the horse and learn more about his personality as well as to record visual information that I am unable to obtain any other way. One more advantage that painting horses from life has given me, is a higher understanding of the "life" that I can reflect in paintings that I create in the Studio. If you have any questions about this process, or would like to commission a painting, please contact me.

2 comments:

Stacey Huston said...

Beautiful use of light in this painting.. wonderful job..Thanks for sharing

Karen McLain said...

Thanks Stacey. The pattern of sunlight was part of the inspiration for this piece. It had a wonderful feel of heading into camp near the end of the day.