Buachaille Etive Mor
I managed to get outdoors to work on perhaps my favourite mountain here in Scotland- Buachaille Etive Mor- which means 'the great herdsman of the Etive' (mountain range).
This ominous rock guards the enrance to Glencoe and is absolutely awe inspiring- I just had to paint it!A short walk got me to this spot where I set up with my painting box and got cracking
At this stage I've blocked in the main shapes with a neutral gray thinned in turps
I've now got most of the main colour blocked in- working fast as you can see the dark clouds coming up Glencoe
There was a beautiful dance of sunlight catching the grass at the bottom of the mountain and some of the crags on the left so was keen to get this quicklyAbout 2 hours in and its just starting to rain a little. I actually managed to finish a bit more than shown here berfore rain got too heavy, but I didn't want to get camera out!!
Well here is the finished version. I decided that I didn't want to work on this in the studio and risk losing the freshness and atmosphere I captured in the field. What you see here then is the result start to finish outdoors in just over two hours- phew!
Buachaille Etive Mor
Oil on panel 15x12 inches
C&C always welcome
Ryan
4 comments:
Ryan, thanks for posting your plein air piece as a WIP. I have the same painting box as you but the one I just bought oddly enough won't hold a 12x16 in the panel holder...holds the palette though. I'll rig it to hold smaller size panels, 5x7,6x8,8x10 and 9x12.
I have a question....I'm working on a panel piece right now and gessoed it before painting. I'm using oil paint and when I apply it it sets up really fast even when using lots of painting medium mixed into the paint. It appears as if the paint gets almost tacky right away...is this normal when painting on panel? I can stretch just a little oil paint pretty far on canvas but not on panel. Just wondering.
You did a nice job on this piece. Good for you for braving the rain to finish the details.
Ron
Ron
Hi Ron
Thanks for the kind comments.
I just bought the box a couple of months ago for £13 (bargain!!) Let me know how you get on rigging your box for smaller pieces, as I'd like to do this too!
When painting on panels, you can easily get too much paint on too early, this causes it to be difficult to keep painting. You have to keep in mind the principle of 'fat over lean'- what I mean is do all the preliminary painting thinned out (i just use turpentine). Plein air this dries enough to paint over pretty quickly. Then another layer can be applied. Only use thicker paint at the end.
Not sure if this answers your query?!
Or do you mean the oils dry to quick on panel? If so what medium are you using?
Ryan
Ron
had a look at your blog by the way its really good!
Thanks for the Art show post, gives a real insight into how these work- I haven't braved one yet!
Ryan
Hey Ryan,
Maybe painting a thing layer with turps is the way to do it...I use Copal Medium to thin my paint and get it to flow easier and dry faster but on canvas that takes a couple of days...on this board it tacks up in a few minutes it seems. I'll try linseed oil.
I haven't rigged mine for painting because I haven't gone outside yet. Then the other day my Dad made me a new box that is set up to paint anything up to an 11"x14. I'll post pics of that new box soon on my blog.
Thanks for the info though on the board. I'll try fat over lean too.
Ron
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