Plein air Rotterdam

Sundown in Rotterdam. The sun allowed me 30 minutes only to do a quick sketch of her. The changing scenery demands quick and clear choices, which is nice. 

I used white, yellow ochre, cad red and indigo for this sketch

Plein air march 29th Maashaven Rotterdam

Gouache

Plein air

Yesterday's plein air painting. I was a challenge, painting this heavily backlit situation.

Plein air

Recent plein air sketches from the island Texel.

Plein air 'round the corner

I had an hour yesterday to do a quick oil sketch on a deserted and overgrown contruction site down the block.

Plein air

Delft area. Oil on canvas board.

Plein air sketch

I had a great time painting plein air with Arne yesterday.
The sun was setting fast, so we had only about an hour to do a little sketch. In this hour, the sunlight changed dramatically, so we had to make descisions really fast. Having limited time is always good to stay extra focused, and also I find the light and colors of a sunset very beautiful.

This is me and my primitive setup...

And this is Arne, who works a bit more sophisticated...

And his painting... 

France

I had a great time in france the last two weeks. Lovely weather for plein air sketches....

Plein air gouache sketch

When the sun is setting, one has to paint fast...
Gouache sketch, koninginnebrug Rotterdam

Plein air sketch

Plein air sketch I did in Dochamps, Belgium.
I placed a complete step-by-step on my tutorial blog: LINK

Plein air study

Quick gouache sketch at the end of the day...

Plein air study

Persoonshaven , Rotterdam, April 15th 2011 .
On a sunny morning like this, the light changes extremely fast... It is best to define the placement of the shadows first, so you can still keep consistent lighting, when the sun is moving on...
It can also be a good thing to limit the time to do the sketch, so the initial idea remains intact. After an hour, the scene has changed completely...

Plein air

Yesterday's plein air sketch. Gouache on moleskine sketchbook.

I used only a few colors for this painting:
-Titanium white
-Ultramarine
-Gold ochre (W&N)
-Burnt Umber
-Greenish yellow (talens)
-Turquoise blue

I created most of the painting with only these colors. In the end, I added a few accents with:
-vermillon (traffic lights and the barriers)
-Cad yellow (foliage in the back left)

Plein air sketch

Sketch of a street in Rotterdam. These houses will be demolished soon, and have been neglected for a while now. You can see nature taking over. I loved the light when I decided to do the sketch here. It was cloudy, occasionally raining, but also sunny from time to time, which gave the backlit grass a vibrant coloring.