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Outdoor Painting is a challenge with all the changing elements and weather but it is rewarding to take on. With this it becomes important to respond quickly to your surroundings and take in what's most important at that moment. With a loose relaxed brush sometimes the best paintings transpose right in front of you as you place your subject as you see it without worrying about perspective and such; drawing what you see.

Sometimes a piece can be completed on the spot in an hour or so but most paintings need layers to deepen colours and to add depth. This can be done later at home. However most of the time I try to establish darks and lights somewhat simultaneously, working from the main subjects and then into smaller details while defining shapes and colour contrasts.

I start with a quick pencil sketch or just the brush and outline the main large shapes and later choose colours that express the feeling of the scene rather than what I actually see: orange for warm and things up close and blues and purples for cooler aspects and distance. Otherwise any colour can work as long as it feels harmonious with the rest and is mixed from the pallete at hand. I usually keep the pallete limited with the mixing primaries of Quinacradone Magenta, Hansa Yellow and Phthalo Blue (or Ultra Marine Blue) and Raw Umber instead of black.
I mix my greens and sometimes use various reds or blues. Adding colour that I feel makes the painting sing is a personal joy. And sometimes I am singing along in my heart. I get in a zone and everything else seems to disappear. It's a great place to be once in a while. And so what if the wind blows and sometimes the rain starts - I just pack up and am thankful for the time I spent creating. God is Good.

Jane