In the final article of her three-part series on painting seasonal flowers in oils Helen Tarr takes us out into the countryside to explore painting alla prima
The beauty of learning to complete an oil painting quickly and with confidence is that it opens up the possibility of painting in the landscape, where decisiveness, good observational skills and a thorough understanding of the alla prima (at the first attempt) technique are a great asset. I caught the plein-air bug just a few years ago. Uncertain whether I would enjoy it at first, I used a homemade pochade box, adapted from a simple, hinged wooden box, before investing in a readymade one. A few days painting on the North Yorkshire coast were enough to get me hooked, even though my early attempts were very hit and miss. I have learnt so much from plein-air painting and continue to do so; it’s not easy but it is very satisfying.
We live in a valley flanked by National Forest woods on one side and farmland on the other, and I have become familiar with much of it on my daily dog walks. I often take a pocket sketchbook, watercolours and brushpen with me and stand to paint a ‘snapshot’ sketch of anything that catches my eye. This is a very simple and effective way to study the landscape and gather ideas for larger paintings.
It was a breezy day in late April when I set out to paint this local patch. I was keen to paint the annual display of dandelions that bask in the sunshine here each spring, and I was full of anticipation and ideas. This field is on one of my regular dog-walking routes. I already knew how the sunlight would fall across the landscape and the view I wanted to paint, so it didn’t take long to find a good spot to work from.
DEMONSTRATIONA Path Through the Dandelions
My aim for this painting was to depict the dandelions near and far, in shade and sunshine, and this view ticked all the boxes. It took a while to set up the tripod and pochade box securely on the sloping ground. I had to angle the lid, containing the canvas board, so that the dappled sunlight wasn’t falling directly onto the board which can cause difficulties for seeing the tonal values correctly
STAGE ONE
To help me plan the composition, I loosely marked out a 3x3 grid with a neutral grey-brown blend of French ultramarine blue and burnt umber thinned with a little Sansodor and applied with a size 6 round bristle brush. This was a quick way to ensure that important elements of the landscape would be neither too central nor too near the edge.
Next,
