Gettingthe Most

Out of

Plein AirPainting

JEANNE MACKENZIE:

In her workshops in the United States andabroad, Colorado oil painter Jeanne Mackenzieprepares participants to maximize the experienceand results of painting outdoors.

by Bob Bahr

Mackenzie showedworkshop participantRuth Rawhouser how sheinitially blocks in a scene.

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photography. On the negative side, as Mackenzie pointsout, is the greatly increased need to edit the view. “There’s a360-degree scene, and you are the architect,” she explains.“You are in charge of this landscape. And there are proba-bly 10 paintings for every one scene, so one needs to lookat the myriad options. The key is to learn to edit.”Mackenzie advocates the use of a viewfinder—even a sim-ple, makeshift one consisting of an empty slide mount willdo. “As soon as you put the four walls around your compo-sition, you’re ahead of the game,” says the artist. “Thenplan the painting; do a thumbnail. The tendency of a newplein air painter is to try to capture everything in the scene.That’s just not possible, nor is it desirable.”

At a Susan K. Black Foundation workshop held lastSeptember in Dubois, Wyoming, Mackenzie taught thisimportant aspect by example. Students heard Mackenzietalk through her decisions on where to set up her easel andwhat to include in her piece. She was studying the sky tosee if the clouds were interesting enough to deserve a lot ofspace on the canvas. She was looking for paths into thecomposition, color relationships, interesting shapes, and,most important, what her gut was telling her was the mostinteresting part of the scene. And Mackenzie was trying toavoid some pitfalls. “Just because the scene is pleasing tothe eye doesn’t mean it will make for a successful paint-ing,” warned the artist. “Good composition is what holdsthe painting together.”

The artist teaches several workshops in the UnitedStates each year, and a couple of international workshopsas well. Last year, her schedule included a trip to Tuscany,

and if her words don’t convince you of this, the vigor andenthusiastic focus she exhibits when painting outdoors isproof. An artist can have that kind of intensity in the studioas well, but the difference is comparable to a newscasterbroadcasting from a studio compared to a correspondentreporting on the scene. The excitement is palpable, as theplein air painter is literally immersed in the subject matter.

This is a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, itmeans being in the great outdoors, and it means getting toknow the subject much better than would be possible with

OPPOSITE PAGE

The varied terrain ofTuscany, Italy, offers theartist scenes of intimatestreets, hillside vinyards,and beautiful vistas.Mackenzie’s recent Italyworkshop was held justoutside of Vagliagli, nearSiena.

BELOW

Mackenzie demonstratedhow one should start outworking on a small canvaswhen first venturingoutdoors to paint.

Colorado artist and instructorJeanne Mackenzie is a truebeliever in plein air painting,

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Italy, where students painted vineyards, hill towns, olivegroves, and picturesque stone walls. Although the emphasisin her workshops is on plein air work, she incorporates timein the studio so she can explain concepts such as composi-tion, color mixing, and equipment basics. The instructoralso takes care to prepare the studio painters in the groupfor what they will encounter in the great outdoors. “As soonas you go outside, your style changes,” Mackenzie said thefirst morning in Wyoming. “You feel like you have to hurry

up yet you want to put in all the details, and so you tightenup. But you can’t take a studio approach outside—thatwould set you up for failure. Just plan on painting a two-hour painting. Think of it as a study, as color notes—that’s amanageable goal. Soon those color note studies will becomefull-fledged paintings in their own right. Plein air paintingwill make you a better studio painter, because it enhancesyour powers of observation. Plus, the emotional attachmentyou make to a plein air study will really make a differencewhen you paint a larger studio piece from it later.”

She went on to emphasize the importance of a thumb-nail sketch. “I have heard students say they might add atree here or there or change something in their composi-tion later,” she recalled. “You wouldn’t build a house byadding the kitchen and then wonder where to put the bed-room next. You would have a good architectural plan toknow exactly where things are going. This is why I recom-

You can’t take a studio approach outside—that would set you up for failure. Just plan on painting a two-hour painting.

BELOW

Mackenzie discussedwith Mike Flanagan thesubtle value changespresent in the sceneduring a workshop inWyoming lastSeptember.

OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP

“The trick to this Tuscanterrain is to find theplanes that go indifferent directions andtreat them with differentcolor and value,” saysMackenzie.

OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM

This scene is a study in thelocation of a low, hiddenhorizon line. The viewer’seye level is halfway up thecanvas, indicating thateverything above that line issituated on a hill.

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mend a thumbnail sketch before painting—you work outthe problems there.” Mackenzie urged the participants touse a thick pencil or marker so they would not be temptedto turn this simple sketch into a drawing. She recommend-ed that the students keep the sketch small—perhaps about2" x 3"—and draw within a box that has plenty of roomaround it for possible edits and notes. Squinting is crucialin this stage; artists should be looking for the big shapesand the basic dark-light pattern in determining the compo-sition of the sketch. Students should consider the place-ment of the focal area, which Mackenzie suggests might beplaced a third of the way up or down on the canvas, as wellas a third of the way left or right on it—essentially the pro-portions of the Golden Mean, which is based on the aes-thetically pleasing and naturally occurring proportions ofthe Fibonacci sequence (as illustrated by various examplesfound in nature). The artist took some time to explain howthinking in ellipses can help someone convincingly depict

depth in a painting, especially if the piece has water or aroad in it—things that are flat. From the viewer’s perspec-tive, the closest part of a road or stream can be representedby a more circular oval, and as the water zigzags into thebackground, it can be roughly depicted as a stack of increas-ingly flattening ellipses. (See diagram on page 57.) This willhelp the river or road “lay down” in the composition.

Mackenzie recommended that the canvas for a plein airpainting be lightly toned with what will likely be the comple-ment of the scene’s primary color—she uses a paper towelto rub in this tone and to lift off the excess. A light wash ofeither burnt sienna, or ochre and alizarin crimson, workwell for most scenes and tone down the distraction of a glar-ing white canvas. For her demonstrations in Wyoming andthose from a recent trip to Tuscany, Mackenzie chose burntsienna to offset the greens in the landscapes. The transfer ofthe thumbnail sketch to the canvas followed, using a thin,neutral color mixture, then came the block-in. Like most art

Mackenzie’sMaterialsPALETTE

n cadmium yellow lemonn cadmium yellow mediumn cadmium redn alizarin crimsonn ultramarine bluen viridian n transparent oxide red (Rembrandt)n yellow ochren titanium whiteoptional: n cobalt bluen Thalo rose or quinacridone redn cadmium orange

BRUSHES

n hog bristle brushes, filberts or flats, in sizes4, 6, 8, and 10

n a size 1 round or a rigger brush in long-haired sable

SURFACES

n canvas panels, 11" x 14" or smaller, fromNew Traditions, RayMar, or SourceTek

MEDIUMS

n Turpenoid, Gamsol, or another brand ofodorless mineral spirits

Tips From Mackenzien The key to plein air painting is editing the scene.

n Do not try to paint en plein air the same way you would in the studio. Time is of theessence.

n The atmosphere eliminates colors, graysthem down. The first to go are yellows, thenoranges. Blues are the last, which is why dis-tant mountains look blue.

n Remember that a muddy color is useful—itmakes adjacent strong colors pop.

n Almost always, the sky is the brightest thingin a scene. You can judge all the other valuesin the painting against it.

n Paint the area where the light, shadows, orpatterns—such as reflections—will changefirst.

n Think in ellipses. This will create depth in yourpainting.

n Clouds line up and show perspective lines.

n The darkest dark of the clouds is alwayslighter than the ground color. And the color ofclouds is influenced by the temperature of theland beneath them.

n Keep distant trees blue, or at least blue-green.

n Don’t be too critical of a piece you have justfinished. Many great plein air paintings areborn after they have seasoned overnight.

BELOW RIGHT

The greens are very similar in thevalleys, so the artist must makethem cooler and less chromatic asthey recede. They blend with thesky in the distance.

BELOW LEFT

The horizon level is high in this scene. Becausethe foot path is light enough to compete withthe sky color, Mackenzie recommends loweringits value and warming its temperature to bringit down into the color family of the ground.

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Demonstration: Ranch Autumn

R

Step 4The shadow of the building on the right was addednext, using a mixture of viridian and transparentoxide red. Sky holes were added to the trees;Mackenzie was careful to mix that color slightlydarker than the sky color so it wouldn’t be too jarringagainst the dark leaves. She added dark lines on thefence on the right to make it “pop” and drew in thefence on the left. Trunks and branches were addedto the trees. The ground in the gateway waslightened to reinforce that area as the focal point.

Step 5Mackenzie added some elements in thebackground, some of which were invented in thespirit of making that area more interesting. “Doyou really need to know what’s going on backthere?” she asked. “Not really. But this is a grayscene, so I need to find some color and somehighlights.” The artist painted in some negativespaces to make the posts of the fence pop outand to otherwise recover some edges that hadbeen inadvertently lost. Mackenzie raised thetops of the posts on the fence to add variety andto break the strong horizontal.

Step 6The artist next depicted the sunlight hitting the topof the rails on the fence and softened the lineseparating the violet hills from the yellowish greenof the cottonwoods because she felt the contrastwas too marked. For similar reasons, she softenedthe edge of the mountains against the sky. Finally,she added a few highlights to the middle-groundtrees on the left and blued the distant hills a bit sothey would recede and so their color would not betoo similar to the color of the barn.

ReferenceThe view in Wyoming from which Mackenzie painted.She chose the scene because she liked thediagonals, the backlit objects, and the abundance ofpleasing grays.

Thumbnail SketchMacKenzie first toned her canvas with dilutedtransparent red oxide—the complement for a scenethat had a lot of greens in it. She set up her palettewith warm and cool pigments for each of the primarycolors (yellow ochre, lemon yellow, cadmium redlight, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, and cobalt),plus transparent red oxide and a warm and a coolgreen (sap green and viridian). She had two brushesready, one for lights and one for darks. Mackenziequickly sketched the composition, pointing out thatbecause the sky was largely cloud-free andotherwise relatively uninteresting, she wouldminimize that area in the painting.

Step 1The artist drew the composition on the canvas usingthin washes of dark greens or dark reds to achievemiddle-range values. Some grays were applied forneutral and lighter areas.

Step 2Eager to establish the fleeting light effect in thescene, MacKenzie next put lights along the top of themiddle-ground trees and added the backlit hills inthe background. Her first color mix for the mountainswas too saturated, so she neutralized the color a bitto help them recede. A warm sky was added using amixture of titanium white and yellow ochre.

Step 3At this stage the artist ensured that several lines ledto the roofline on the right, including the outline of thedistant hills against the sky. Mackenzie also began topay close attention to her brushstrokes, making surethat they, too, led the eye to the focal point as well asdescribed the form of the objects. Reflected light wasconsidered; she warmed up the posts near the groundto show how the light was bouncing off the warm dirt,and the underside of the roofline was similarlytouched with warm paint to show the bounced colorfrom the building’s exterior. Cooler leaves were addedto the trees in the shade on the right.

T 4

5

6

1 2

3

Demonstration: Ranch Autumn (CONTINUED)

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THE COMPLETED DEMONSTRATION:

Ranch Autumn2007, oil, 9 x 12. Private collection.

instructors, Mackenzie emphasizedthe importance of getting bigshapes down first. She also told theworkshop participants to boldly putdown dark darks early on. “It is eas-ier to lighten a dark than to darkena light,” she said. Once the canvasis covered, the light source must berechecked, the focal point should beexamined to make sure that thecomposition leads the eye to it, andthe lightest lights and darkest darksmust be reinforced. Those darks,however, should be relatively thin.“Remember, use lean darks andloaded lights,” she told the students.Light can catch on the high-valuebrushstrokes but one should avoidsuch glare on the dark strokes inthe shadows. Values and tempera-tures are refined next, with atten-tion paid to atmospheric perspec-tive. Depth may be reinforced byadding sharper edges to foregroundelements and by softening theedges in the background. A fewtight details will lead the eye aroundthe canvas. Once the canvas com-municates the original message theartist wished to convey, it’s time tostop. Mackenzie told workshop par-ticipants that the painting timeshould stay under two and a halfhours. “It becomes a different paint-ing after that,” said the artist. “Anddon’t be too critical of your piecewhen you have just finished. Manygreat plein air paintings are bornafter they have seasoned overnight.”

Although she leads workshopsin a variety of locations, Mackenzie says that the similari-ties in the different painting spots outnumber the differ-ences. Sure, the fields of lavender in Provençe are a power-ful image that feels unique to the visitor. And the land-scapes in Wyoming offer an unusual challenge: the dramat-ic lack of atmospheric distortion in this part of the countrymakes distant objects look very clear, so much so that some

artists intentionally paint in more atmosphere than theyreally see in order to make the scene more convincing. Butthe fundamental things apply, regardless of where one’seasel is set up. “You’re dealing with the same types of light-and-shadow issues whether it’s a vineyard in California orin Tuscany,” says the artist. “You carry those basics wherev-er you go.” Mackenzie concedes that at certain times of day

BELOW AND BOTTOM

Mackenzie is a well-prepared, thorough instructor, and sheincludes a classroom session in each workshop to give studentsof all levels the basics upon which to build. Here she discussedhow to choose a good site, solid composition, color mixing, andtackling the painting progression for a piece in under two hours.

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Student Critiques

Above Left“This has a nice feel of the turbulent andstormy sky that was out there,” commentsMackenzie. “The painter has correctly drawnthe perspective of a person up on a hill lookingover a town. There are some confusing tangentlines in the upper right that move the treeshape into the cloud forms. Soften these linesto give each its own form and plane.”

Above Right“There’s a strong diagonal feel to the linesleading into the painting,” says Mackenzie. “Thefields have a good sense of perspective—theyget smaller as they recede in the distance. Butthe light values in the lower-left corner pullsthe viewer’s eye into and out of the painting toovigorously. Soften the high contrast of light anddark in that area to keep the viewer’s eye in thepainting. The light green fields are a bit similarin color; they are on different planes anddifferent angles and thus will catch differentlight. Vary them with variations of yellow-green,blue-green, and red-green (for a more neutralhue).”

Above“Small Tuscan hill towns are challenging because they are on uneven ground,” explains Mackenzie.“This artist did a good job of capturing the flavor of the town square. However, it is missing thatwonderful strong Tuscan light. Also, the sky is too warm and too dark. Remember that the shadow sideof the clouds is lighter than the ground. Always use a clean brush to keep the sky bright and light.”

Left“I really like this vantage point,looking down the vineyards,”Mackenzie comments. “The artist dida fine job of giving the vines a feel ofstrong light. It would be more invitingif the vine stakes had a little varietyto them—they are a bit centeredand of similar height. The paintercould also push those distance hillsback by making them a cooler blue-green; they are a bit close in colorand temperature to the foregroundgreens.”

Above Left“This definitely imparts the feel of Italy—the old buildings and the rollinglandscape,” says Mackenzie. “Beautiful job on the bricks as they curve upinto the arch. I would like to see more interior so that the window edgedoesn’t fill the painting. That would lead me farther into the scene. Thelandscape scene is a bit hard edged, which puts it on the same plane asthe window. Soften the edges of the house and trees and tone down thedarks—that will put the landscape outside. Watch the angles of the tileroof. They should be angled down.”

Above Right“There is nice movement in this painting, with ways for the eye to get backto the distant hills,” Mackenzie points out. “You can really feel the lay ofthe land. Be careful of diagonals that lead you out at the corner, as in thispainting’s lower right corner. I would make those middle trees slightlylighter than the foreground bushes (or darken the shadow of the closerbushes). This would push them back. Lowering the value of the recedingpathway will send that road over the next hill. Presently, it seems to wantto compete with the focal point: the vineyards.”

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or at certain times of year a view in a particular locale canbe utterly special, but she asserts that it’s not so much theactual sight as it is the experience. “It’s not where you arethat makes it a special painting,” she says. “Your memoriescome mostly from people you meet, the feel of the wind,the scents of the countryside, and other sensory experi-ences. You can’t help but translate those things into yourpaintings whether your scene is the hill country of Tuscanyor the cornfields of Illinois.”

The Colorado artist is clearly comfortable painting out-doors, capturing the fleeting light, waving off the bugs, andreading the clouds—not just to paint them accurately but toassess whether they will rain on her within the next 30minutes. She co-founded the Rocky Mountain Plein AirPainters in 2000 and focuses all of her workshops onpainting outdoors. But she’s not a purist.

These pieces often serve as studies for larger work—Mackenzie uses the plein air piece to remind her of the colornotes and feel of the scene, then she creates a larger work—as large as 30" x 40"—based on the small piece, her originalthumbnail sketch, and photos she took of the subject. Thehard part is capturing the same energy she felt on location.Her solution: Move up in brush size, and paint from theshoulder with broad arm movements instead of paintingfrom the wrist. “The loose brushstrokes that you loved in aplein air piece won’t translate otherwise—you tighten up andspend too much time on the piece,” she said. For example,Mackenzie took an 8"-x-10" plein air study of a cactus andmade a 36"-x-48" studio piece from it. She tried to honor thefreshness and vigor of her original brushstrokes in the studyby simply translating the one little stroke that depicted a pad-

dle on the cactus on the study into a big shoulder movementwith a large brush for the same paddle in the big piece. “Yes,you are going to put more information in the larger studiopiece,” acknowledged Mackenzie. “But remember—if onebrushstroke is good, then 100 brushstrokes are not necessar-ily better. It could look overworked.

“Mastering the art of plein air painting only enhancesyour studio work,” Mackenzie continued. “Learning toquickly observe the values and color in landscapes makesyour paintings in the studio stronger. You trust your obser-vations and show a more confident brushstroke. Just as astudio painter learns the subtleties of the skin tones in fig-ure paintings, or the temperature changes of a still liferose, the plein air painter brings quick intuitive observationskills back into the studio. With greater knowledge of thosesubtle changes in value, temperature, and color, paintingsget more light and life in them.” One could say that pleinair painting should simply be part of a well-balanced diet ofpainting subjects. Mackenzie’s goal is to make this additionas enjoyable and painless as possible for students. n

Bob Bahr is the managing editor of Workshop.

LEFT AND OPPOSITE

A workshop participantsketched the sinuous line ofthe creek on her canvas in anaccurate way, but the resultwas a somewhat weakcomposition. Mackenziepicked up the student’ssketchbook and pencil andsuggested the compositionshown here. “Diagonals arewonderful elements to find innature,” commented theinstructor. “But to get a nicelead in for a painting you mayhave to create a betterdesign. By going with a morepronounced diagonal in theriver shape you invite theviewer into the scene and givemore energy to the painting.”

Jeanne Mackenzie earned a B.F.A. fromSan Diego State University, in California, andhas participated in workshops led by ClydeAspevig, Michael Lynch, Matt Smith, SkipWhitcomb, and Wayne Wolfe, among others.She is a dedicated plein air painter working inoil and is a founding member of the RockyMountain Plein Air Painters, in Colorado.Mackenzie has participated in numerous exhibi-tions organized by groups such as Arts for theParks, Oil Painters of America, Brushes WithItaly, American Women Artists, HoustonMuseum of Natural Science, Susan K. BlackFoundation, and The Artist’s Magazine. She isrepresented by El Presidio Gallery, in Tucson,Arizona, and Ruidoso, New Mexico; ScottsdaleFine Art, in Arizona; Fairmont Gallery, inSonoma, California; Gallery East, in Loveland,Colorado; and Wild Horse Gallery, inSteamboat Springs, Colorado. For more infor-mation on the artist, visit her website atwww.jeannemackenzie.com.

About the Artist

Upcoming MackenzieWorkshops GUATEMALA—ANTIGUA CITY,JUNGLES, LAKE ATITLANMarch 3 through March 12Explore Guatemalawww.exploreguatemala.com

FREDERICKSBURG, TEXASApril 21 through April 25Fredericksburg Artists’ Schoolwww.fbgartschool.com

APPLETON, WISCONSINMay 12 through May 16Richeson School of Artwww.richesonart.com

TELLURIDE, COLORADOJuly 24 through July 27Ah Haa School for the Artswww.ahhaa.org

ACADIA, MAINESeptember 1 through September 5Acadia Workshop Centerwww.acadiaworkshopcenter.com

VENICE, ITALYOctober 4 through October 11Il Chiostrowww.ilchiostro.com

BELOW LEFT

Expanding on the river sketch, Mackenzie illustrated the concept of stackedellipses for depicting flat surfaces in a scene. “It’s very easy to have theroads and rivers in your paintings look like they are waterfalls or pathscoming down a hill,” explained the instructor. “To make the forms lookconvincingly flat, train yourself to see the ellipses in the forms. Closer toyou, it’s as if you are looking into a cup—and you can see the river bottom.As the ellipses extend farther back into the scene and get closer to eyelevel, they flatten out and blend in with the landscape.”

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Mackenzie’s Work

LEFT

Laden Boughs2006, oil, 28 x 22.Private collection.

BELOW RIGHT

San Juan Splendor2007, oil, 11 x 14.Collection the artist.

BELOW LEFT

Off the Path2006, oil, 8 x 10.Private collection.

ABOVE LEFT

Autumn’s EarlySnow2007, oil, 20 x 24.Private collection.

ABOVE RIGHT

VanishingFarmland2007, oil, 30 x 40.Courtesy WildHorse Gallery,Steamboat Springs,Colorado.

LEFT

Winter Warmth2006, oil, 8 x 10.Private collection.