PLEIN AIR ARTISTS

An Online Artist's Coop for Artists who Paint on Location

NIGHTSCAPES

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Plein air painting done at night, on location usually under artificial lighting. This is a good opportunity to display some of your urban settings.

Members: 28
Latest Activity: May 12

Discussion Forum

Lighting 7 Replies

Plein air painting at night requires artificial light. Unless you can set up under a lamppost, or before a bright storefront, it's BYOL- Bring Your Own Light.I thought I would briefly share my search…Continue

Started by Jerry Campbell. Last reply by Donald Maier Feb 22.

Don't pass them up 1 Reply

found this calling me on the last day at Brookville, IN as I was on my way to the shower so I could get a early start to the day. when I came out I knew I had to paint it. to many times we pass up…Continue

Started by Lawrence Rudolech. Last reply by Donald Maier Feb 22.

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Comment Wall

Comment by Kirk Larsen on January 10, 2012 at 1:23pm: A 12" x 16" painted on the 4th of July 2011, under the fireworks along the beach in Bayville, NY. I worked on an almost black, primed canvas that was dry, with oils and a small led visor lamp set to one led only for minimal shift in pupil dilation. Every once in a while pieces of pieces would land on me but nothing burning.

Comment by Kirk Larsen on January 10, 2012 at 1:24pm: Detail of 4th of July piece.

Comment by Patrick O'Driscoll on January 10, 2012 at 6:24pm: Don, I like how you capture the lighting on the cars, also great work on the overhead lights.

Comment by Patrick O'Driscoll on January 10, 2012 at 6:30pm: Kirk, great energy in this, I like how you handled the reflections in the water.

Comment by Kirk Larsen on January 10, 2012 at 8:14pm: Thanks Pat... one thing is for sure, its a moving target to paint fireworks, light and reflections last mere seconds

Comment by Donald Maier on January 12, 2012 at 1:15am: This watercolor was done on the picnic table overlooking the panorama at Monument Valley in 2003. Of course, it was impossible to see the buttes, but you actually could see the silhouette in the darkness of the butte in and lights in the campground in front of it. Also, the stars were very bright. I used a flash light to paint this, but had to wait for my eyes to dilate before I could observe the scene once again. My new ear light works much better. Well mo betta at least.

Comment by Kirk Larsen on January 12, 2012 at 11:48am: great piece! love the emotional simplicity. The eye adjustment is exactly why i like the minimal amount of light that i can see my palette with rather than a very bright headlamp

Comment by Donald Maier on January 13, 2012 at 11:40pm: Here finally, is my first nocturnal watercolor in years. I have been working in pastel after dark, but have been very energized by all the positive comments here online, and thought, I can do this. Fear of failure... we all get it. But we must work through it and grow. Another thing, thanks to Catherine Gill's book, I used a bit of conti pencil to finish of a few details. I would have never done that in the past. I would also like to thank my mom and dad and the academy.... geez.

Comment by Donald Maier on January 25, 2012 at 2:03am: A couple of new nocturnes to show you. Both of these were done from memory after coming inside to paint what I saw. Kind of plein air I guess.

Comment by Kirk Larsen on January 25, 2012 at 11:40am: Lovin' the top one at the stop light! Artist to artist note: next time look at what happens in the areas around the bright reds and the reflections of red (or green) Lights. I just had a similar moment this week where I saw a string of traffic lights at night and thought how great it looked. Got home and realized what made them glow was the area next to it. I will be looking tonight.

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