Fixing up an old plein air

[Donna T]

I was sorting through some old pastels and found a plein air piece from a long time ago. I remember the beautiful morning light that poured through a gap in the trees and onto the soybean field where a friend and I were setting up to paint. My painting was ok but like most of my plein air attempts it looked a little rushed and crude. I know it's not recommended to keep working on a plein air later because we lose the freshness but this one was just languishing in the box and I wasn't interested in doing it all over. So, nothing to lose! First, I sprayed it with Spectra Fix because it needed more tooth and I like how this fixative doesn't alter the colors or make the darks darker. I added some depth to the trees and generally tuned it all up a bit. 10 x11 pastel on heavyweight hot press watercolor paper coated with fine pumice gel and toned with a wash of acrylic paint

 

[TK H-H]

It turned out nicely! Great textures here in the grass and trees. And lovely color gradient in the sky.

 

[Enyaw]

Well done Donna. The greens in the middle, the other side of the light are still too intense. If you tone those down you will add tremendously to the atmospheric depth.

 

[MurrayG]

Hi Donna, thus worked out nicely, it's intense but somehow fresh. I like it. I can relate to reworking stuff on WC paper, greens are hard with pastels to get colour/value right. Somehow I can overlook what Wayne noticed, nice job.

 

[Grapes]

Breathtakingly beautiful ! I'm happy you decided to work more on this piece. It's also lovely to get to know the story behind this painting.

 

[john]

Beautiful painting Donna. Wayne may have a point but we all have our tastes Those bright morning spring green fields look like that and I love that look. Then we paint them and second guess it. There is something about bright greens in paintings. Not popular for some reason seems to me.

And regarding the idea that it's best all done plein air I don't agree and that seems like an unnecessary limitation. But that could be because I can never finish them on site. En plein air is just a way to make a difficult thing more difficult. I'm kidding!

 

[Enyaw]

I could overlook it as well but I mention it as it would be a better piece for it and I do have a point. That said, I did not say correct it. I would not. I would make another version.

 

[Donna T]

TK H-H, It's good to know I didn't lose the textures that I originally had and thanks for noticing the gradient in the sky too. I did that thing I read about where you place similar values next to each other to get a little color vibration. I was very subtle about it though and of course it doesn't show up in the photo.

Wayne, I appreciate your thoughts and thank you for pointing out the greens, boy do I struggle with greens! Do you mean the greens in the middle of the lane or the field itself? I have to keep them bright enough so they look sunlit and stand out from the greens in the shadow but I'm not quite sure how to do that. Add in some blue from the sky? I always want anyone to mention any problems and make suggestions. I appreciate it.

Thanks Murray, we never, ever have the right green pastels in our box do we? Those fields were a saturated green but Wayne has me thinking.

Thank you Grapes. I'm easily entertained: light on a few weeds and I'm in heaven. Soybean fields are hard to paint when they are approaching harvest time because the leaves become a mix of yellow and green. I was glad that this was an early summer field.

John, I'm with you on spring greens. How to make them look natural and not like they have been nuked. I guess I'm not a plein air purist anymore. Life goes on. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Enyaw]

Do you mean the greens in the middle of the lane or the field itself?

Hi Donna, I knew you wouldn’t mind as your inquisitions have me believing you want to outdo yourself each time out.

Both….the ones in the shade and the ones in the light. You have a strip between the trees and the field. If that strip went to the imaginary horizontal line of the shadow that would work for the field. The shadows need to be muted with some of your purple shadow from the path. Get a good piece of plastic or glass and put it over our painting. Try the fix on that surface so you don’t disturb your painting. If it works, fix it. If not then try a new version. Hope that’s clear.

 

[Donna T]

Mute the shadows. I think I see what you mean, Wayne. I will try that and can always lift a color off with a kneaded eraser. Thanks!

 

[Bartc]

I like it just as it is. Nothing says you have to exactly imitate what a camera would capture, and even those have their faults in reproducing color impressions.
Which Spectra-fix product did you use this time?

 

[Enyaw]

Nothing says you have to exactly imitate what a camera would capture

.. who brought the camera ..

 

[Donna T]

Thanks Bart. I have given up on ever expecting photos to give me accurate colors. I just want a believable light effect. I use Spectra Fix Degas pastel fixative. It’s a little scary at first because the pastel soaks it up and turns dark but when it dries the colors look as good as new. It works well for wet underpaintings too.

 

[Terri]

This is a stunner - well worth the time you put into it!

Green is about the hardest color for me, too - not sure why. I think you could leave it as is. But - if you wanted to tweak an area, I agree with Wayne about the middle area - on the right side below the treeline. Maybe just a few dots of your blue shadow color along there, and smudge them in to soften the brightness. But that's really a nit.

I'm more interested in hearing about your process. So, you used hot press watercolor paper but first coated it with the fine pumice gel? Brilliant! I love the idea of the acrylic wash over that, too. Was it akin to a burnt sienna?

Way to build up texture and undertones. It's just gorgeous. Applause!

 

[Donna T]

Hi Terri, thanks for your thoughts about that middle area. A few tweaks are in order. I love working on 300 lb hot press watercolor paper. It’s so sturdy and tough and I can keep washing it off and using it again and again - both sides! It’s pricey, I know, but I hardly ever throw it out. Lots of my acrylic abstracts are done on top of old pastel paintings. Golden’s Fine Pumice gel makes a great surface for pastels and it can be sanded to however smooth you like it. I like a burnt sienna or similar wash for landscapes. The orangey tone makes the blues of skies pop and it works well for the soil behind and between field grass, sort of a natural look.