It’s been a couple months since my last plein air outing and it was great to get back out there. I’ve been driving by Mt. Diablo a lot recently and I knew that’s what I wanted to paint. I landed on Diablo Foothills in Clayton.
The scene
Despite having been here a few times for both hiking and plein air, I’ve never painted or even considered this view before. It’s basically right at the trail entrance and what really drew me in was the color of the hazy Mt. Diablo in the distance. In my eyes, part of the mountain was green tinted and part of it was red tinted. It was subtle but the two parts were almost vibrating next to each other.
The composition I wanted was to set up that color juxtaposition. I wanted the viewer to glide over the foreground in shadow, anchor to the mid-ground tree and then meet Mt. Diablo at the back.
My Process
Since I got an early start, I had really nice light and shadows and with that came fast moving light as the sun crept up to its midday resting place. I followed my usual plein air process to minimize the impact of the constantly changing shadows.
First, I figure out roughly what scene I want to paint and before confirming that I complete one to a few thumbnail sketches. These tend to be pretty rough and just help me get the composition nailed down, including what’s in light and what’s in shadow. Once I’ve selected a thumbnail sketch to base my painting on, I don’t worry about the changing shadows as much.
Then I tone my canvas, transfer my drawing to the canvas, and block in the lights and shadows from my thumbnail sketch as quickly as possible. I’ll use the colors and signals I’m getting from what’s in front of me while referencing the thumbnail sketch for my composition.
Once things are blocked in, then I refine, add more dimension, and add in details. These last few things are the first to go. Once I get the block in added, I have at least the minimum I need to go and use this as a study for future paintings. Sometimes I’ll get closer to a finished painting while I’m outside, and sometimes I’ll leave it pretty rough.
The biggest challenge
I really struggled with the foreground in this one. I was so drawn to the mid-ground tree, and the distant Mt. Diablo looming over them. I knew I wanted the foreground to be mostly in shadow so as not to distract from the part I loved, but it ended up being a sizable part of the composition and I didn’t just want a dark blob at the bottom. I decided to keep the value dark but to vary the temperature within it to add interest.
This was a really fun scene to paint and the painting itself will be a great study. I may go back and paint this same scene a few more times in different light to understand how it changes. If I like how those turn out, I may move to a larger canvas.
I always enjoy looking at my palette after.
