Color Mixing Secrets for the Plein Air Painter

Plein Air Painting in Abiquiu, New Mexico
Look at all those great colors!

Painting outdoors on location poses unique challenges compared to the well-controlled studio environment—no question about that! With the explosion of interest in plein air painting, there has been a commensurate increase of interest in educational workshops taught by experienced artists. Perhaps this is because upon beginning to paint outdoors, one quickly realizes how difficult and frustrating it can be to create even a small, pleasing picture from hours spent hard at work. There is so much to learn, and the quickest way to get there is to study with someone who has spent years learning the ins and outs of landscape painting. We teach plein air workshops in order to help cut years off of the plein air learning curve for our students. This article shows the unique method that we have developed and that we teach our workshop students to q…