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Landscape Art

Doug Higgins · Mar 18, 2012 · 16 Comments

"Gondoliers" by Doug Higgins OPAM
"Gondoliers" by Doug Higgins OPAM
Plein air landscape painting has become popular and it’s what I’ve been practicing for about thirty years and so have amassed a great deal of experience by painting landscapes and seascapes all over the world. Usually I use oils but in Europe the choice is acrylics mostly due to airline security. Acrylics are water based and therefore not flamable.
I begin by finding a site, something that I can visualize as a painting, select a focus, the remainder of the painting will be painted in relationship to the focus so as to direct the viewer to the focus or center of interest. Then I loosely arrange in my mind the elements on the painting surface, the composition.
Next I begin the painting by loosely painting in the major shapes in a linear fashion. Then I begin the masses by painting in a large known quantity, usually the sky, painting from back to front, background to foreground, thin in the shadows, thick in the light and leaving details for the last stages.
To elaborate on this process, watch the video below as I identify my location and demonstrate some of the techniques I refer to above.
//www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=05Kkf-xu1bk

Oil Painting Acrylics, Landscape, Plein Air, Selection, Style, Technique

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Suzanne Lago Arthur says

    March 19, 2012 at 7:33 am

    Great post! I very much enjoyed this one. Thanks for the video Mr. Higgins! Your commentary was very instructive  & much appreciated. 

    Reply
    • Doug Higgins OPAM says

      March 19, 2012 at 6:57 pm

       Thank you, Suzanne, for taking the time to reply. This is my first experience with blogging and it’s nice to know someone is seeing and appreciating it.

      Reply
  2. Kathy Maniscalco says

    March 19, 2012 at 9:00 am

    I watched your video and thoroughly enjoyed the progression along with the wonderful commentary – you made painting the scene look so easy, so fluid, so natural. 
    I enjoy the various textures and brushwork too. Do you have a rule of thumb as to when to work the paint with the palette knife?

    Reply
    • Doug Higgins OPAM says

      March 23, 2012 at 10:13 am

      I use a palette knife mostly for sharp edges or for texture (the flat 
      surface), the leaves of trees for instance. I sometimes use the edge for
      very thin lines.

      Reply
  3. Doug Higgins OPAM says

    March 19, 2012 at 6:55 pm

     I use a palette knife mostly for sharp edges or for texture (the flat
    surface), the leaves of trees for instance. I sometimes use the edge for
    very thin lines.

    Reply
  4. Karen Halbert says

    March 20, 2012 at 8:23 am

    I highly recommend the videos. It’s like having private lessons from a master.

    Reply
    • Doug Higgins OPAM says

      March 20, 2012 at 3:56 pm

       Thank you very much, Karen, for your comment. If you have any questions I would be glad to answer them to the best of my ability.

      Reply
    • Doug Higgins OPAM says

      March 20, 2012 at 4:13 pm

       By the way, Karen, there’s another preview DVD on my website.

      Reply
  5. Steve says

    March 23, 2012 at 11:20 am

    I’ve enjoyed your work  for a long time. Very good demo. Nice balance of warm and cools and a very dynamic composition. I like how you begin the work with a plein air approach and then edit and tighten up in the studio. Would this work still be considered plein air? Where do you draw that line? Keep on Painting!

    Reply
    • Dhfineart says

      March 23, 2012 at 4:55 pm

       Hmmm. Where is the line between studio and plein air painting? In my case, since I learned everything I know about landscape from outdoor painting, that which I do in the studio calls on those experiences and informs the studio “inventions”. It seem to me I’ve always done at least something else to my outdoor work the next day in the studio and still consider them to be plein air.
      Thank you for the comment, Steve.

      Reply
  6. Joe Anna Arnett says

    March 24, 2012 at 4:04 pm

    Doug,
    You have done vibrant plein air landscape for decades and your work has such force and life.
    So often, when a  plein air painting is translated in the studio into a larger work, it loses the vitality.
    What are your thoughts about this and do you have suggestions for maintaining the vitality in the studio painting?

    Reply
    • Dhfineart says

      March 25, 2012 at 7:49 am

       Now here’s a great question about guarding against the loss of vitality when translating an outdoor landscape painting into a larger version in the studio. So what is it that causes the feeling of vitality in the original painting done on site? One of the main causes is rapid execution. The sun is not in the same place as the painting progresses creating changes in what the artist is seeing which causes an urgency to rapidly move to completion. There isn’t the time for fussy explanations and details.
      The artist initially paints in the large masses and gets paint all over the surface. The large masses are generalities and are stated with accuracy of placement, color, value and chroma (brighter colors in the foreground) but no detail. The large initial masses contain suggestions of all the decisions made before the painting has begun… center of interest, composition, perspective both linear and aerial, an indication of the color scheme and the elements which will be included, eliminated, shifted in position, exaggerated or diminished in attraction power. Then as the painting moves rapidly toward completion, the paint is not overworked and the painting retains a sense of… vitality.
      Now in the studio, the artist has decided to create a larger work using reference to a plein air paintings as a start. A large studio painting is not a smaller painting made larger but a work with a completely new set of considerations. for instance, in the studio painting the artist may introduce figures, animals, vehicles or any manner of new additions. This may cause a shift in the focus, or center of interest, of the painting. Once these decisions are made the painting is begun using the same approach as the plein air painting described above. This time an artificial urgency is imposed using larger brushes than in the original and approximating a similar rapid execution vitality. The great difference is that in nearing the end of the larger studio painting the artist slows down and paints the figures etc. with more clarity and accuracy.

      Reply
  7. Diana Moses Botkin says

    March 31, 2012 at 3:16 am

    Thank you for this demo, Doug. I especially enjoyed your visualization of the rough painting plan, invisibly air stroked over your bare canvas. I’ve done similar actions but never saw anyone else do it before! I also liked your friendly and straightforward manner.

    Reply
    • Dhfineart says

      April 1, 2012 at 8:55 am

       For many years, Diana, I was an actor and I learned to prepare before entering a stage so that the backstage and onstage was a seamless transition. Preparing before painting is a similar method. Friendly and straightforward may be a result of my acting training as well but thank you for the compliment.

      Reply
  8. Diane says

    April 3, 2012 at 9:36 am

    Your paintings have a wonderful spirit,  and are a delight to the eye!  Thanks for sharing your expertise.

    Reply
  9. Diane Knight Hewitt says

    April 3, 2012 at 9:37 am

    Your paintings have a wonderful spirit to them.  Thank you for sharing your expertise.

    Reply

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Snapshot of the Author

Doug Higgins
He is best known for his plein air landscape and seascape paintings as well as animal and cowboy art. He also explores working from memory, limited palette, still Life, figural painting, portraits and enlarging studies in his Santa Fe studio. He will also frequently begin a painting on location and finish it at home in his studio using invention and memory.
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