All excerpts copyright of North Light Publications

excerpt from Chapter Three, PLEIN AIR PAINTING...

In order to bring our vision into reality, it is necessary to see with an uncommon clarity. Our observations must be of a high quality, and suited to the task at hand. The effect of a painting is greater than the sum of its parts. We must see beyond all the beautiful elements, all so distractingly lovely and seductive, and penetrate to the essence of the subject. The color and value relationships between the elements of a painting forms the real foundation of the work. At this level of thought, style is of no consequence. Detail may be added or not, as per the pleasure of the artist. But no level of rendering is sufficient to save a work that has misjudged its most fundamental relationships. ...

excerpt from Chapter Three, PLEIN AIR PAINTING ...

The goal in simplifying is to keep the essential and eliminate the unnecessary. Who could argue with that? And yet the results of our efforts to simplify can often have the opposite effect. I see paintings full of detail and calligraphy, but within a value structure that has collapsed. I am often reminded of a quote by the poet Stephane Mallarme, who said "It is the job of poetry to clean up our word-clogged reality by creating silences around things." And so it is with painting. The great variety in nature is intimidating. It takes a high degree of understanding to effectively simplify something so complex. ...

excerpt from Chapter Three, PLEIN AIR PAINTING ...

To see like a child, utterly guileless and without any preconceived ideas or learned solutions to the problems of painting. It's easier said than done. As adults, this is a state that we can only approach. To even come close, it is more important to unlearn stuff than it is to add to our body of knowledge. The visual truth is right in front of us. If only we could be open enough to see it!

Art is full of platitudes and truisms that we pick up in art school and everywhere else along the way. These formulas provide the comfort of certainty, but in the end they aren't helpful. A good example is the old axiom that warm colors advance and cool colors retreat. It is not that this axiom is incorrect. However accepting it across the board can lead to potentially disastrous extrapolations, like "all elements in the distance are cooler than those that are closer". Don't foreclose on your opportunity to see it otherwise. The best strategy is to clean house of all preconceived notions and start from scratch. Dont turn truisms into un-truisms. Just trust what you see. This is not easy, especially when a perception goes against the prevailing wisdom. Going from a place of certainty to one that leaves you constantly hanging over the edge is never comfortable, but it is the right place to be. ...

Excerpt from Chapter Two, MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR COLORS ...

Choosing a Palette

When we paint on location, we are painting the effects of light. When you see a rainbow, that is nature's palette. The first thing that we notice about the colors of the rainbow are the absence of neutral colors, including the earth tones. The neutral colors are not really absent from the color spectrum. Rather, they are contained within it. The earth colors, and other neutral hues, are really red, yellow, and blue working overtime. Taking a cue from nature, we can eliminate the neutral colors from our palette and mix them from the primaries. Our pigments will then be mimicking light in their own inadequate way, while creating a more believable light effect in the process.

In choosing a palette, I find a compelling argument for simplicity. The one thing that we know for sure is that we need three colors to paint light, a red, a yellow, and a blue. Using fewer colors has the benefit of getting more service out of each. Our reds, yellows, and blues will literally be everywhere in the painting. The color will harmonize more fully, giving the work greater unity. This degree of inter-relatedness is hard to achieve when using a large palette of many different pigments. ...

Perhaps the greatest benefit of a simple palette is in changing the thought process of color mixing. When matching the colors of nature, it is helpful to put more emphasis on the light spectrum and less emphasis on individual pigments. For example, learn to reach for a warm red instead of Cadmium Red Light; a cool yellow instead of Cadmium Yellow Lemon. In time you will actually begin to see specific reds, yellows, and blues within the more neutral colors. Seeing your pigments as a stand-in for light itself is a coming of age type of experience for an artist. Painting light is different than painting things. This is an expanded visual awareness, and it often brings changes to the palette, usually towards a greater simplicity.

excerpt: Do you have the Right Stuff?

The whole idea of talent in art can be a bit overblown. We hold the notion that talent is the natural ability, from day one, to draw and paint well; or at least better than average. If we struggle, then we doubt. While it would be pleasant to have natural ability, that kind of talent is no where near enough. The landscape is strewn with the 'artistic dead bodies' of people far more 'talented' than you or I. But they will never amount to a hill of beans in art because they lacked the real talent, which is the love of doing it; that unquenchable spirit and determination to prevail over all obstacles. If you have the desire to express yourself through art, then that's all the talent that you need. If you worry about whether that is enough, then even caring about that question is further evidence that you do have the right stuff.