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Friday, December 9, 2016

What Makes a Good Reference for Studio Landscape Painting?



You, a plein air painter, have decided that it's now cold enough outdoors to retreat to the studio.  You'd like to work on something big, but you're not sure what.  You start pawing through boxes of old plein air sketches, scrolling on-screen through thousands of digital images....my, but that's tiring work!  Maybe you'll spend the morning watching YouTube videos instead.

Well, here's a video for you.  If you're looking to take your plein air painting to the next level by doing some studio work, you need to know what constitutes good reference material.  In this video, I describe what makes good reference material and how to gather it so your studio time will be more successful. Pencil sketches, color studies and photographs all have their place in your work, whether your medium is oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel or something else.

So sit back with a cup of coffee, and enjoy.  It's only six minutes long, the perfect length for a coffee break.  Afterward, I expect you to get back to the studio.