Annie: Plein-air sketch from life

[Linda Brandon]

This is an oil sketch I did last weekend in preparation for a commission (finished size of final painting to be 28" x 28"). The sketch was primarily to decide which colors to use in outdoor flesh tones.

By the way, Steve Sweeney led me to Kurt Anderson's oil painting book, who muses that outdoor palettes ought to be different than indoor palettes. Anderson thinks that outdoor palettes should include more intense colors than indoor palettes. I haven't decided yet for myself whether he's right, but I do have lots of opinions on who looks good in strong sunlight (young people under 25, cowboys and animals).

This lovely girl sat for 90 minutes and although I gave her lots of breaks and tried to filter our harsh Arizona sun, I was worried about that patch of sunlight on the left side.

The final commissioned work is of her sitting on a park bench and it won't be as painterly as this sketch.

I don't plan to change this painting but I hope to get some honest feedback from all of you anyway. This is my first post so maybe I can blame everything on technical difficulties.

[Linda Brandon]

The image:

[Mari DeRuntz]

Linda, this new category on the forum makes me feel absolutely voyeuristic - I get to see the fresh, inspired and current work posted by other artists working from life. It's almost like the Impressionist Exhibition of 1874, isn't it, today's artists rejecting the photo reference compared to the impressionists rejecting the salon. (This is not a serious cut and in hopes of avoiding Finnegan's wake, some of my favorite painters can do things with photographic references that I cannot nearly approximate.) Bottom line, I just think it's easier to get this stuff from life.

I think you're the first to post a plein-air portrait color study, very cool kudos to you!

I love plein-air work, I love this color study you've done, and I eagerly wait for you to post your progress on this commission.

Are you familiar with Allan Banks' work? The weekend of December 6-8, I get to take a workshop with him here in Sarasota. His plein-air portraiture is remarkable, and yes I'm gloating a bit but only because I can't fly out to AZ to join you all with your Whitaker workshop!

Peek at this link, I came across a very interesting outdoor palette in Richard Lack's "On the Training of Painters." I've used it for simple plein-air pochades, and hope to get a model and try it for plein air portrait studies.

Thank you for posting this painting!

[Linda Brandon]

Dear Mari,

Thank you for your kind comments about my sketch, they are much appreciated.

Allan Banks has been one of my favorite artists for many years. One of his paintings is of two girls on a park bench and it was in the back of my mind when I set up my own painting. Lucky you to be able to take a workshop from him.

I'm jealously guarding my spot in William Whitaker's workshop and I hope he can whip me into shape with working from life in cool northern light.

Thanks for sending me to Richard Lack's palette. My heart flutters whenever I see a strong violet on a palette. I don't know how people can paint without it.

I'm under a lot of time pressure with this painting so I'll be doing a lot of work from photos hereafter. I am in the very enviable position of having both an indoor and an outdoor place to set up easels. Years ago I had a drawing table next to a hot water heater in a dark basement on Long Island. Though I was grateful to have it at the time, my current situation is definitely preferable.

Linda