Ashuelot Park Plein Air

(C) 2017 Dale DiMauro

Plein air painting has transformed how I paint and view the world I am portraying. With the changing light it is important to not become distracted with all that is going on around me. This concentration can become exhausting if I paint for a long period of time. I generally plein air paint for a little over an hour and at that point it is time for a break. Usually by then the light has changed and I need to step back and take a fresh look at where I am on the picture.

This is a plein air painting which I started in Ashuelot Park, in Keene, NH. Yesterday I did some finishing touches at home. This view is in the vicinity of the waterfall with some buildings deleted. Mount Monadnock is very much in view.

On these outdoor excursions I have been experimenting with a Sennelier watercolor pan set which is different from my Winsor and Newton studio palette. The Sennelier set, made in France, limits the number of pigments I use to fourteen. In contrast, in the studio, I have at my disposal up to thirty five pigments from my Winsor and Newton palette. 

Until I worked on this at home, the tree trunks were so transparent that you could see the mountain through the base of the tree. I had to lift out the paint in this area and go back in with a darker color to correct this problem. Other than that, I love the vivid colors and how the paint gets absorbed into the paper.

The tree shadow gives dimension and roots the trunk into the earth. Unfortunately, the photograph does not do it justice. When painting outside you really don't know what the result will be as the paper is transformed through various wash cycles which brings the whole experience into the present moment.