Joseph Paquet - Plein Air

Joseph Paquet is a plein air painter and instructor working in the US. See more of his paintings at his website: joepaquet.com
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images used with permission

Harbor Reflections

Emile Gruppe


CW Mundy 
www.cwmundy.com

In the calm waters of the harbor, reflections become a much more important part of the composition.
Masts and ropes provide interesting linear elements.
These paintings also exploit the contrasting tones on opposite sides of the hulls of the boats, best seen in the late afternoon.

Decisive Brushstrokes

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These plein air studies, by David Simons, work well because the artist has chosen subjects which are simple yet contain interesting shapes and relationships.

Good plein air painting is characterised by decisive brushstrokes - as few as possible to convey the scene - varied to produce interesting patterns. Brushstrokes should follow the form of an object.

Both studies are 16 x 20 inches.

Watercolour Sketches

Harold Irving Smith, American, 1892-1969

Painting a moving target, like the sea, is not easy. Some seascape artists like to work from photographs. Personally, I find that, while a camera may capture the detail of that elusive veil of spray, once I look at photos back at home, hours or days later, the inspirational feeling of the moment has been lost. I find it difficult to work from photos, but they are useful as a reference, combined with sketches. Rapid sketches done on location, can be a good way of preparing for an oil seascape. With subjects as transient as a waves and spray, you have to get used to drawing or painting from memory to quite an extent.

This watercolour sketch, looks as if it has been done very quickly yet it captures all the essential elements of the scene/event. With quick sketches, there's no time to get lost in photographic detail. The artist has started with a rapid pencil sketch, drawing as lightly as possible in order to free up the subsequent washes of transparent colour.

For on site seascape studies, pencils and watercolours and a small pad of watercolour paper are more convenient to carry around than canvases and tubes of oil paint. Oil sketch paper can be substituted for bulky canvases. Small tubes, designed to minimise the weight of a plein air paint box, are available in certain brands. Some plein air oil painters, who know in advance the kind of colours they are going to encounter, take a palette with oil colours already squeezed out onto it (presumably covered to stop it drying out) leaving the heavy tubes behind.  Some artists even premix the colours they expect to use, but the disadvantage of using premixed colours is that the colours in the environment are always changing. Still, something to consider.