Autumn's arrival

This is my first outside or plein air painting in my life. It's acrylics on paper. The light changed too fast, and the acrylics dried too fast too. I tried to apply what I have learnt in W19... I would greatly appreciate any fruitful comments for improving my painting!

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Comment by Silvana M Albano on April 2, 2013 at 16:18: Xiao, the house is a play house. It must be not more than 2m tall! I can reach the top just by extending my hand!

Comment by Xiao Li on April 2, 2013 at 15:00: Hi Silvana, So this is the Ash tree you were talking about. I have never seen this type of tree before. It is huge!! What an interesting tree it is! Nice painting too.

Comment by Silvana M Albano on April 2, 2013 at 9:47: Thank you Michael and David! Your comments maintain up my spirit and the desire to paint! I've been to the beach these last days... The sea was completely different every day... I wondered if anybody was able to paint theOcean plein air? So dry, with wind and sand and salt... If being at home sitting on a chair is a challenge... I can't imagine what that could be...

Anyway, I will leave plein air landscapes for a near future, and try with some leaves which are so colourful these days, as soon as it stops raining!

Stu, I wiil try to get those odourless mineral spirits! Thanks for the tip!

Comment by David DEntremont on March 29, 2013 at 11:01: Hi Silvana. I for one will say that my first attempt at plein air painting was very tough. Last year was my first time and trying to capture a scene on your canvas while shadows and lighting are constantly changing was definitely a challenge. It is a great painting for your 1st attempt! Keep at it!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on March 29, 2013 at 6:32: Hi Silvana. Stu was right on with his assessment. I would like to add that this is the first plein air painting that you have done ....and it came out very good. So, you must keep at it!!! .. go out as much as possible and rack up the "brush mileage". Keep your motifs simple at first ... look for scenes that have a nice light dark contrast and pattern ...keep it simple at first!!! Put some still life objects on a table outdoors and paint it .......that is plein air painting also!!.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 28, 2013 at 16:38: Silvana, there are several manufacturers of odorless mineral spirits that really have almost no odor. The Gamblin Company makes "Gamsol" and the Martin F. Weber Company makes "Turpenoid". Use of these products cuts down those objections. Stu

Comment by Silvana M Albano on March 28, 2013 at 15:00: Thank you Stuart! You can't imagine how much all this info helps! I love oils, but at home nobody can stand the solvent's smell. If I paint oudoors, perhaps that shouldn't be a problem...! I'll try to find the acrylics you've suggested! Thank you very much for helping!

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on March 28, 2013 at 14:48: Silvana, you just found out why most plein air painters do not paint in acrylics and why they only paint for 2 to 3 hours. Your drawing and composition are well done. Your value structure is pretty good. Your color harmony is also ok. The real problem is that it is hard to create soft edges with acrylics, and this shows particularly in the tree. If you want to keep painting outdoors, limit yourself to 2 to 3 hours, at least at first; easiest way to do this is smaller canvas, simpler scenes and bigger brushes. If you do not want to switch to oils, try some of the newer acrylics which can be rewetted (Atelier Interactive Acrylics) or dry slower (Golden Open Acrylics). Hope this is helpful. Your painting is pretty good for a first try at plein air painting. Stu