Livy Glaubitz, CSAG member and avid plein air painter, documented the process of an outdoor painting session last summer. See how she takes loose watercolor marks and turns them into a painting.
She starts her painting by loosely applying complementary colors and letting them flow. At this stage she is not sure what her subject will be, but is enjoying the process and being outside.
Livy then turned the horizontally and carried the paint across the paper. Notice she leaves white space to create light and to allow for development of the future subject.
With the underpainting complete, Livy determines the subject of her paintings. Leaving whites and using complementary colors allowed her much latitude. Livy decides to sketch a figure and incorporates the orange streak into the texture of the jeans.
With the subject created, Livy adds supporting details to the painting. She created features of a wharf and enhanced the figure.
Livy is moving towards the finish line! In this step she increases the values and defines details. This step is often described as the frosting on the cake.
Voila! The Bait Hauler is complete! Leaving white spaces, using complementary colors and ‘going with the flow’ resulted in a great plein air painting.