aan de jacht haven Brugge/ the marina in Bruges. Watercolor on hot pressed paper. 9″ x 12″ or 23 x 30 cm.

Most of this drawing/watercolor was done en plein air, but in two sessions. First the drawing. I really like spending time getting the forms: the movement, the proportionality, the composition, right. Light and shade play a role in this but if the composition is too dependent upon the play of light, that light will be gone before I can get pencil or brush to paper. Too much changing light. Vague composition. Vague statement.

So I like to spend time with a chosen spot, feel the impulses as they present themselves, feel the shapes, the play of light, feel nature whispering and dancing through the trees while the ducks quack. And because the project is en plein air, as I’m exposed to such changes, I’m making choices.

I snap various photos along the way. One of them will capture the light I’m now intending.

the equipment of an en plein air painter

At home I refine the edges of my proposed fields of colour, and at the next (and final) session I lay in my washes. Working wet-in-wet in nature is tricky, it’s much easier to control at home, so I’m still getting the hang of it. As for the en plein air equipment: I had a very funky tripod-converted-to-a-drawing easel along with a tri-legged folding stool all of which strap to the back of my bike. It makes exploration and discovery a whole lot easier. (Thankfully the tripod part has since been upgraded 😉 ). In any case, the image here above is what I came up with.

And now, time to move on to the next…