Painting Outdoors In Umbria/Small Works

The weather has changed this week, cold, windy and wet, but we arrived to really nice weather a couple of weeks ago.

I was able to get out and do some plein-air painting and also some drawing. I like doing the drawings. I can take them out later and add color with pencils or gouache.

I feel so lucky to have so many beautiful and inspiring places to set up and paint outdoors here. There are gravel and dirt roads that make it easy to get away from it all, and just paint.

Many of these smaller works will inform my large abstract pieces later on. 

That is my intention and hope. 

The large paintings rarely come from a void. Though the plein-air paintings and drawings

seem small, they are an essential element in my process.

Going into the fields is a favorite for me. I can carry 
everything I need to paint.

 

I'm painting from a bench here in the garden where we stay.
Sam looks on...

I can draw anywhere, even from the parked car, if the weather gets too nasty. So far, it's been nice enough to just draw as Janelle and I take one of our many walks around the area. I can just stop and get to work.

When I am drawing, I take lots of notes on color, shadow, sun direction, etc. I use this information to finish the piece later.

Adding color later on in the day.

The simplicity of this landscape is everything.

I'm working more on this trip than our trip in autumn 2021. I feel better about my work, and am excited about the pieces I've finished. Both the outdoor painting and studio painting has been pretty well.