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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Painters of the Night

Ok, ok, so maybe "painters of the night" gives the wrong impression here but a friend and I went out and painted a nocturne plein air.  We drove to our "old town" area at dusk, donned our backpacks and set out to find something we had a shot of painting in the dark.  It was chilly out so we had our heavy, paint-smeared coats on, grungy pants, etc...honestly, we looked like a couple of homeless guys.

Photo courtesy of Will Spear
We found a nice window display at the florist and set up to paint.  My friend, Will, has painted a few nocturnes before so I followed his lead.  I wasn't really sure where to start but turns out it's like any other painting; you start putting down shapes of the right value and color.  The hardest part was discerning the color/temp of dark mixtures on my palette when my main light source was an LED head lamp.

Paul Wood Florist
6"x6" Oil on linen - Not for sale
 This painting took me twice as long as it should have but once I got in the groove there was no way I was leaving until it was done.  I had a blast and now I'm hooked.

Got any tips for painting nocturnes?  Leave a comment!


5 comments:

  1. Darla McDowellApril 20, 2013 at 8:08 PM

    I don't have any tips for painting nocturnes, but this sure looks like fun, Scott! Well done!

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  2. Victor ErringtonApril 21, 2013 at 4:47 AM

    Scott, nice first plein air painting. My tip is to keep going, and then you certainly will be hooked. All the best.
    Vic.

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  3. SusanApril 21, 2013 at 7:42 AM

    A fine painting but your fingers must have gotten very cold. Live the pic of you out in the night. Like how the store has that night light glow

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  4. Stephanie BerryApril 21, 2013 at 1:20 PM

    Now here's a challenge!! Your painting came out well. How difficult is it to figure out values and color in the dark?

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  5. Brandon Schaefer - Acrylic ArtistApril 24, 2013 at 10:04 AM

    I have yet to paint a nocturne, definitely looks like a challenge. Especially painting in the cold! I don't even want to go outside to check the mail when it's cold, let alone paint. More power to you! :)

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