Demo: Oil Painting - Studio Painting Based on a Plein Air Sketch

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Original Sketch.

As much as any plein air painter would like to do his best work outdoors, sometimes it's all one can do to make a quick and imperfect sketch to capture composition, colour and -- most important -- mood. This little 8x10 (above) I did of Liberty Point on Campobello Island brings back the memory of the moment. It was a very dramatic moment with the play of evening light over the lookout deck and the rugged rocks. However, the sketch fails in certain respects. The color is too intense and too purpley-blue; the composition could be improved. But I chose it for this demonstration because it does recreate the mood. (By the way, I used only the sketch and my memory for this demonstration. I did not have a reference photo.)

Final Studio Painting.

Here's the final "Evening, Liberty Point" (11x14, oil/panel.) I wanted you to see this with the sketch nearby so you can compare them. I think you'll agree that this studio piece succeeds. It has more harmonious color and a more dramatic composition. Let's go through the steps to show you what I did.

Composition.

Two things bothered me about the plein air sketch. First, the horizon coincided right with the top of the most distant rock. I wanted the distant rock (called Sugar Loaf Rock) to rise higher than the horizon to give it a certain majesty. Second, the bottom left had a large rock that took up too much real estate, reducing the effectiveness of the diagonal thrust of the foreground rocks. I did want to make sure that I kept my center of interest -- the lookout deck -- in the upper right "intersection of thirds." Here's the thumbnail sketch I made. Note the "thirds" I've divided the canvas into. I've circled the upper right one, where the deck will go.

Laying in the Drawing.

I started with an 11x14 birch panel with a Polyflax surface. I don't care for the texture of canvas or linen ("Polyflax" is a polyester version of linen), so I used a few layers of traditional gesso to nearly obliterate the texture, giving me a smoother surface to work on. Using a pencil, I lightly sketched in a larger version of my thumbnail.

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