Plein-air session number 3

I headed to Kleinburg, Ontario, to do a plein-air session this morning. I was hoping to find an interesting perspective on the construction of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which was just recently closed for renovations.

My goal for the session was to communicate that I was there at an early stage of upgrading this precious art collection, or in the last moments of seeing it as it was. Since its opening to the public more than 50 years ago, the gallery has not undergone any upgrades. Luckily, the gallery received funding from the Province and the Federal Government for regeneration.

Walking around the building, I climbed up the stairs leading to the cafeteria of the Exhibition. Even though it is currently closed, the dramatic lighting on that side of the building makes it a good source of inspiration for plein-air painting.

My sense is that the three shapes can be connected in a painting, as well as the windows and doors, which are very dark in value indeed.

Just in time, after I finished the thumbnail and started unpacking, a group of workers showed up with some yellow carts full of materials. That is a bonus for my composition, as I plan to paint a larger work on the subject for a future exhibition.

The plein-air session went well. The result is next

Lessons learned

I am currently reading and extracting ideas from Painting Light & Shadow in Watercolor aimed at people interested in plein-air painting. One of the shortcomings of that book is the lack of suggestions about methods to select inspiring sites.

My lesson this time was to start asking the question “What visual experience am I trying to communicate?” (see the answer in the second paragraph of this posting).

Once that intention is clear, it becomes much easier to evaluate scenes. You’re no longer asking, “Is this a good reference?” but rather, “Does this scene support the visual experience I want to express?” That intention naturally guides your choice of viewpoint, cropping, value design, and ultimately the painting itself.

Walk around and look for an interesting light situation. Identify a dominant shape and a focal opportunity. Scenes that are visually chaotic.

After selecting the scene, find a viewpoint by changing position, adjusting eye level, and aggressively cropping.  Decide on the format: portrait, landscape, or square

Design the scene before painting by drawing in perspective, simplifying values to obtain a value hierarchy, connecting shadow masses, establishing dominant shapes, and creating visual movement.

My selection of half-pans with Daniel Smith colours was missing a neutral gray. Mixing a dark tone from Prussian Blue, Quinacridone Red, and Burned Sienna Light was a pain because of the extremely fast evaporation time outdoors. Water kept evaporating very fast in my mixing area (metal section), leaving the mix always dry.

I forgot to bring marking fluid to protect the shapes of the light bulbs.

I forgot to connect the darkest area by painting shades under the yellow carts.

Next step

The short video depicts an interesting scene with workers entering the building. I will enhance my composition on that idea and give the building a hue or gradients more appropriate for ‘under-construction’ to suggest its current stage under the Sunlight.