En Plein Air: The Apple Orchard

A 2- Day Plein Air Workshop Experience

I wanted to paint a lovely Michigan scene, the tall green trees against a blue sky. HA HA HA said the weather to my plans (and therein lies the first lesson of plein air painting – the weather will never cooperate).

White Barn, Grey Day

Attempted Plein Air Painting

The first day the skies were grey and angry threatening and the orchard was full of mud (lesson two wear good boots). But I was determined to paint en plein air, so I set up against the wind. I found a white barn against the grey sky. This work is unfinished and will probably remain that way. I am unhappy with the results. I liked the light path against the grass, but my painting is too lugubrious, my husband said it looks like “English Countryside”. Hmmm, I know that there were more colors in the white barn than I have depicted.

Day two, started as a stormy overcast day (although later in afternoon a bit of sun popped through the clouds). In the afternoon we were set free in the Apple Orchard to paint. I struggled to find a view; I wanted a horizon with trees and sky –but the orchard was hilly and we were standing lower than the horizon line. I walked around for 20 minutes eventually settling on painting a branch of apples. I was a little disappointed in this as I knew this would be like a still life (which I have experience painting).

I found a nice J-shaped branch that was filled with apples and leaves. I liked the way there were two apples that gleamed in the light while the other apples seemed to recede. I composed the work based on the J-motion from the top right corner down to the left corner. This painting is also incomplete, but I think it is much more successful as I feel it has more depth with the darks and lights (and yes, more color). The image and my setup are pictured below:

I highly recommend you plan your initial Plein Air painting session in a workshop or with an instructor/art group. It was very helpful to have a supply list, handouts, demos and guidance. Also, it was nice to have camaraderie with other artists. 

My only caveat is that the next time I try Plein Air it will be a mild and sunny day! I'm going to get that sky and horizon!