PLEIN AIR
Painting on location is an important part of my process, enabling me to capture the essence of places I explore and bring that experience back with me into the studio.
When you're outside there's a sense of wonder & discovery that can't be matched!
You can see a far greater range of colour and value than a camera and your experience is unique to that moment. Perhaps the late afternoon sun is bathing everything in a warm glow or the recent rainfall in autumn has made the river swollen and especially turbulent. This is why I can visit the same place multiple times - with different weather conditions and the changing seasons there is always something new to discover.
I have sketchbooks full of these little studies I make on location. These are just for me, to take down colour notes, things that I observe like the weather or structure of a mountainside. I then have all the information I need if I want to explore the scene further back in the studio.
This is my equipment set up for painting on location. All my gear fits into my backpack except the tripod which I strap to the side. What’s really important is the backpack has a hipbelt which takes the weight off of my shoulders, which means I have been able to hike quite far carrying this!
