Brushstrokes of Light:

Exploring the Journey of Fine Art Oil Painting with Julie Brayton

Plein Air painting is at the heart of what I teach. To see accurately, you must view the object or scene with your naked eye. The camera simply cannot capture the subtleties in natural light as the eye can.

The four components I teach my students are:

**Color/Hue:**
You must choose the correct starting color note that will work well with the subsequent colors painted wet into wet.

**Value:**
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of an element. A grayscale runs between black and white, but our natural eye cannot perceive all the gradations that exist. Artists typically work within a scale of 1 to 10. Being able to pinpoint a value is crucial for those starting notes.

**Saturation:**
Often confused with value, saturation is the strength of a color—how bright it is or how much pigment of the original color there is. For example, mixing in white, black, or a complementary color will diffuse, desaturate, or alter the original color’s intensity.

**Temperature:**
The warmth or coolness of a color.

In all cases, everything is relative to what’s around it.

Plein Air, French for “Open Air,” offers the opportunity to see more accurately while naturally imposing a time limit on decisions that involve these four components. When painting outdoors—whether it’s a still life, a person, or a landscape—you have a window of consistent light for 1½ to 2 hours. During sunrise and sunset, you have even less time.

I encourage my students to push themselves by getting outdoors. You can even set a timer when painting indoors. This fosters spontaneity and reduces analyzing time. The more you belabor your painting, the more detail you see, which bogs you down and makes your work tighter and less interesting. I have been pushing my students out of the comfort of indoors and away from using photos at tables.

You need to stand at your easel, whether indoors or out. This allows you to step back for another perspective.

Here are some pictures of my students braving the Plein Air landscape.

For more information on in-person classes or online courses, click here.

Give a hand at painting this way by trying out my free How To Paint A Wave Tutorial Below!

What are you’re objectives with painting? Respond To this email. I would love hear your feedback!

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My goal or mission is to bring reminders and connection to the importance each individual has through the connection to nature. How we all can honor the essence of who we have always been meant to be. Creativity, whether through collecting art or creating it, is a healing force that allows us to embrace, tell and own our stories in a transformative and ultimately joyful way.