With the cold and the crazy weather that could blow a storm in any minute, I knew there wasn’t time to finish a gallery-worthy painting. So, why did I pull out my easel and paints?
Let’s talk about that for a moment.
Why we Paint Outdoors
With the dizzying speed of change and technology today we may feel we need to apply that same accelerator to our painting methods.
That’s not a good idea – at least not usually!
Some plein air paintings can be finished on location – taking only a matter of hours, while others require us to return to the same spot for several days. Finishing, however, is not a requirement or necessarily the best practice for outdoor painting.
Most professional artists don’t even sell their plein air work. We go out solely to observe the nuances of nature and learn how to ‘see’ accurately. We understand the particular weaknesses of photography for sharing the drama and feeling of being outdoors. So, we use our studies to inform our studio work.
Yes, I have sold paintings that were completed in one session on location – but that was never the goal.

Wintersill Drive – 12×16 – plein air oil painting by Bill Inman – sold at Salon International at Greenhouse Gallery
Luke Frazier (a phenomenal wildlife artist) and I painted together out in Logan Canyon when we were both in the BFA program at Utah State in the late 80’s. We traveled up the canyon and painted beside an inviting mountain river because it was fun!
It just happened that my painting came together for me that day, and with a couple minor tweaks in my studio a collector snatched it up. (The painting was also done on a 20×24 inch canvas which gave the dramatic colors more room to show off).
Impressionism is “characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and color.” (1) Well, the light that day was definitely shifting, and quickly!
When we keep our focus on recording our impressions and the thrill of our experience, as well as documenting the essentials like the harmony of colors and value relationships, we will generally not have time to record every detail and texture and nuance that we might want in a studio piece. That’s okay – we just need the essentials.
We can use our memory, digital images, and our imagination for everything else.
Putting that Idea into Practice – 5 Steps to Blue Ridge Mountain Study
Now it’s time to share the 5 steps in my process that helped me come home with a 9×12 study that I completed in less than 2 hours. Every time I look at it I feel the cold and the wind and the thrill of looking out at that amazingly beautiful scene.
Step 1
With the limited time, the first thing I wanted to do was get my values working correctly right from the start. So, I focused on squinting and judging one value relative to another.
This was important because values are one of the major weak points in photography compared to our eyes and brains. In photography, we might get the sky value close or the value of the deep shadows, but not usually both unless we are skilled with bracketing or HDR processing. Even then, the camera doesn’t capture the feeling we had standing there with all the sounds, smells and sensations that influence our paintings.
This study was all about establishing correct values, colors and color temperature relationships, and my ‘impression’ at that moment. Everything I would need for a larger studio painting.
Step 2
I also wanted to capture the essence of the rolling hills and tapestry of beautiful textures within an engaging composition.
The shapes and sizes of the clouds were mesmerizing – and the wind was moving them swiftly through the sky. Since they were changing so quickly I decided to add them early on. They were also the brightest shapes and helped me gauge the relative value of the mountains.
The quickly dry-brushed lavender strokes in the lower half of the painting were designed to capture the feeling of movement in the banks of trees that separated the fields and farms.
Step 3
Notice the bluish lavenders in the distant mountains. The light changed shortly after establishing my initial values. In the video you will hear me debate with myself whether to stick with what I saw at first or change things up.
I decided I liked the blue-tinged atmosphere that settled over the mountains. With a Rosemary Masters Long Flat brush size 8 I mixed up a large pile of lavender paint. The strokes were gently laid over the top of the darker colors with the brush parallel to the painting. That allowed me to take advantage of the full length of the bristles and leave behind both opaque and broken textured color.
I knew those lighter lavender hues would look fantastic once they were placed on top of the darker values. Had I put those in before the darker shapes were painted they would not have had such a subtle and powerful impact.
Step 4
Greens can be tough – if we think of them as simply green. Fortunately, there are millions of different greens. Warm orange tinted greens, cooler blue-greens in a crop of newly rising corn leaves – they cover the spectrum. I concentrated on the color temperature of each green field to ensure that my painting captured the inspiring variety nature had provided.
Against all those dark hills and trees, the fields can also look brighter at first glance then they actually are. That’s where squinting is essential to get the relative value, rather than the perceived value.
For the closer dark hill, I added some Cad Red, Alizarin Crimson, a touch of Quinacridone Red and Transparent Oxide Red, and Ultramarine Blue to my lighter lavender paint.
The darker hill was also right underneath the more distant mountain I placed near the center of my painting. As artists we can compose our paintings any way we want. So, I moved the lower hill over a bit for a better composition.
Remember, we aren’t there to document every hill and detail in exact proportion and position. We can pick and choose elements – grabbing things that are representative of others like them. Then when we compose a larger studio painting we can add as many of those pieces as our painting will hold if we so desire.
Step 5
A Rosemary Egbert held lightly between a couple fingers works wonderfully for the smaller finishing details using the thin front edge of the bristles, as well as for larger shapes with a quick turn of the brush.
I like to drag my brush sideways while holding it vertically to break up the stroke and pull some of the surrounding colors along with it. That helps me avoid too-carefully-rendered details that would stiffen up the painterly brushwork and energy in the painting.
Adding a few refining details brings clarity to some of my shapes and helps jog my memory later in the studio about the fun way individual trees contrasted with the brighter fields.
Completed Study

Blue Ridge Mountain Study 9×12 by Bill Inman
Some of the spots of red were there, and some were made up to add some zing to the greens. I had to be very careful to make them feel like barns and buildings without getting carried away with ruler straight lines and details. It’s about the essence, not perfection.
The final touches were the shadows under the clouds that helped define the way they travelled back over the mountains.
Once my frozen fingers could barely hold a brush I decided to call it good.
This study, done in gusting winds and frigid temperatures, is one of my favorite paintings. Sometimes we need challenging circumstances to urge out the best in us.
It was two hours (after 3 days of searching) well spent!
If you missed part 1, you can read about my search for the perfect location in last week’s blog post here:
https://www.masteroilpainting.com/my-3-day-plein-air-adventure-part-1/
Tell us about your favorite plein air adventures in the comments below.
Happy painting
I once met a very accomplished plein air artist who painted, took a photo of his painting, and then hung the painting as a gift to an unexpecting passer-by! He said he had what he needed to do a studio painting. I appreciate your permission to not think that a plein air painting must be a finished work of art! Helpful. Thank you.
What a great thing to do Kathy! Not sure I’m quite at that point yet, but it is fun to ponder.
Bill, I am noticing that your palette is one of the surfaces of your box of paints.
Am I seeing that right? I don’t want to hear about the deficits of that arrangement
so much as the workability of that arrangement. Thanks
Hi Sara – not sure what you mean by ‘your palette is one of the surfaces of your box of paints’. Could you explain your question with a bit more information or from a different direction for me? Are you asking if my palette is part of my French easel? The palette you see in this post is one that I made out of 1/2 inch oak that unfolds with a shelf on each side – one for my paper towels and walnut oil and one for my brushes. It has a glass surface for painting on. The palette sits on the pull out drawer in the French easel and I keep it secure with eye bolts and a bungee cord that wraps around the back of the easel. Is that what you were looking for?
I also did a plein air painting at the vaaldam yachtclub. My first atempt and I loved it. Was daunting to find the right spot to paint..
Great job Reta in pushing past your fears! That kind of courage pays incredible dividends in the arts. Glad to hear you loved it.
My first attempt at a plein air was in Durango Colorado. I grabbed paints and headed out while my husband was at a work assignment. Remember, this was my FIRST attempt and I had just gotten back into painting after 20 years (thanks to my husband’s encouragement) and needless to say, grabbing ACRYLICS to paint with in the dry, arid, Durango, climate wasn’t the smartest thing to do as they dried almost as soon as I had the paint on my brush. I didn’t know what I was doing, tried to be too detailed, and ended up deciding it was a lesson learned. I think I ended up letting my granddaughter paint over the canvas with a much better version of her 4 year old art. Your plein air blogs are beginning to make me want to try again, but for someone who tends to be on the perfectionist side, that can be a challenge!
That sounds a lot like my first go at outdoor painting Kathy! I drove to a group of pine trees in the woods outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. The watercolors I was using didn’t dry out on me, but I was focusing on the swarms of mosquitoes more than on my painting. Fortunately I had much better experiences later on, especially when I went out with my friend and painting professor, Arlo Coles. One of the strongest benefits to painting outdoors is that it encourages us and helps us learn to ignore much of the fluff, and focus on the essentials, the ‘moment’. I got to see a large painting by Bill Anton yesterday at the Prix de West Art Show – it was a group of cowboys and horses near a campfire – incredible painting! In one of our early Blank Canvas interviews he talked about his first experience painting outdoors after years of professional studio painting and how difficult it was. Now he paints outdoors regularly, loves it and believes it has elevated the quality of his work. Don’t get discouraged – if someone like Bill Anton finds it challenging you know it’s not easy – but if you love the outdoors it’s worth a second (or third, maybe even a fourth) chance.
I just had an idea Kathy – maybe on your next try you could paint a study of a leaf or branch, or a rock. That might help you to not feel overwhelmed at capturing a whole scene in a short time. We often get too rushed when we’re painting plein air and that can distract us from the joy of the experience.
I didn’t even know I was doing plein air early in my hobby. We were sitting on a low wall painting the azaleas below us when a bus load of Japanese arrived and snapped us in front of the vista beyond. My water color ended up in Tokyo I believe!
Hah, that’s fantastic Rosemary. Now you can say your work has been shown around the U.S. and the Far East!
This plein air adventure is captivating, and like all your instruction, Bill, it sinks in slowly over days and weeks to form some complex understanding to exercise later. Having lived in some of the country’s true wonderlands, I relate to the journey you describe with the scenery and elements. Currently I’m on a farm deep into the Ozark Plateau, and must get out into these landscapes around me and try some outdoor works with a open mind and a loose brush. Thank you for the inspiration!
Wow, you made my day Jane! I love to hear that all the effort we put into these posts and videos is helping someone. What an incredible thing that you have gotten to live in so many beautiful places. Someone from another country that follows my YouTube videos told me he loved the one where I painted the river over a period of 2 days because he doesn’t have access to any rivers where he lives. We sure are blessed here in America to be able to travel from one state to another. In the past year I’ve been able to paint waves crashing on the rocks of the California coasts, cliffs in Yosemite, red monoliths in the Garden of the Gods, Blue Ridge mountains and colorful fields in Virginia and a host of other breathtaking scenes. Mostly though, I love to paint the splendid farms, flowers and trees right here in my own neighborhood. Heavenly Father sure has blessed us with a beautiful earth. Hopefully each of us will find the beauty that surrounds us close to home!
I had gone to the top of Mount Timpanogus in November to paint a watercolor. When I arrived at my destination it was raining and snowing. I was five hours from home and I didn’t know when I could return. I decided to paint in my sketch book from the front seat of my car. I was there for about 1 1/2 hours. Soaking up what I was seeing. I caught the moments. I felt the atmosphere. I returned home and painted it in my studio the next day. It is one of the best paintings I have ever done it got me hooked on plein air.
What an awesome story Dawn – you are an inspiration! I love that you didn’t just call it a day and that you gained so much from it. We all need a success like that once in a while to keep us moving up the mountain during our artistic journeys. Your comment about feeling the atmosphere – that’s what it does for me as well – not just seeing, but feeling – that’s a powerful combination.