Why Plein air is important? And does it help to improve some skills?

Of course! First of all, life impressions are always more important than some kind of
books’ knowledge. When you paint outside you are a little bit stressed, but when you
solve the problems on the location that becomes your own knowledge and your own
“know-how”. What is even more important is that you always can see the painting,
which is done on Plein air, because it has a different energy. Even if it’s not very
skillful or detailed, that painting always has some energy that you put into it. Joseph
Zbukvic once said that he started improving his watercolor skills when he began
painting outside. Most of the world-renowned masters of watercolor very often paint
outside. Also, when you paint outside you transfer a 3-dimensional picture into
2-dimensional in your brain and on your paper. That makes your brain work
differently. You get different tools for your paintings, enrich your possibilities and
techniques, and whenever you paint something else your baggage of techniques is
already much bigger. It is also a matter of color, no camera can transfer the right
color, but watercolors can. Painting on Plein air is a great study to get more
understanding of the colors and how they all work together. Summer is the best time
to start painting Plein air also because you can learn how to work with green color.
The green color is probably the most challenging because you need to find a
balance between warm and cool to achieve the shade of green that you need. But if
you learn how to deal with green and harmonize it with other colors, then all the rest
will be easy for you.

How to avoid getting mud when mixing the colors?

I have my own attitude to muddy shades and blends. You can paint with mud and will
not look muddy if you make the right accents. So if you have some good highlights
and if you add some darker contrast, any mud will be just very nice support for that.
Also, when you develop the colors, I start painting with a kind of muted blend, which
is not really bright or saturated. And then I’m bringing some accents there and it all
works perfectly together. So you just have to plan it correctly and use it correctly.

What is the more important color or tone?

The tone is absolutely more important.

Is the technique of adding water to your color make it look shiny?

Watercolor is just a medium that helps to distribute the pigment. But when you are in
cooperation with water somehow, it does the main job, you just need to control it a
little bit. But when you overcontrol it then it looks too still and not emotional. So in
watercolor, you just need to know how it works and how to distribute the pigment.
You have to know what to expect from water, know how it works. It all comes with
practice. When you paint on a regular basis you start to understand how much water
and how much pigment you need to take each time.

What combinations of yellow and blue do you often use?

I have Hansa Yellow Light, Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna. Those are warm colors. Then
I mix them with French Ultramarine, Verditer blue, Manganese blue hue. I can also
add to this Indigo and Ultramarine turquoise. So actually 8 colors for all kinds of
greens.

I noticed that you didn’t use red and browns, is it because it will make the mix
muddy or it is an esthetic choice?

We were doing greens. If you add red, that will be brown, let's do it in the autumn.

How to balance between details, reality, and impressions?

I think it’s quite random. Of course, you should have a picture in your mind. You can
use your imagination just to fix the changing situation. Sometimes you have to edit in
your mind something that you see because it’s not always what fits your idea or the
final artistic idea. The details are only one of the tools that you can use with
awareness and also choose if you need them or you don’t need them or select how
many details you need. All these things are something that you can operate with to
get closer to your idea.

Do you add extra details at the end or you plan them for the very beginning?

Of course, I am planning from the beginning, but I am flexible. And sometimes I can
change the whole situation in the end by adding some extra details or removing
some details that I have added already. Because washing away and lifting is
something that works quite well with watercolor. You can either leave 1-2 details until
the end or start your painting with the details and based on them develop your
painting.

How to stop having too many details?

Try not to paint too many details, there is no special technique for this, it is a matter
of planning in advance.

How long does it take to create one Plein air painting?

In the course, most of them were about 45-60 minutes. You can see the whole
process in the lessons and you will get an idea of how long it takes, there wasn’t any
editing or cutting out, so you can see how much time it took me to create each
painting.

If I already have too many details on my painting, what should I do?

There are two ways. You can either unite them or wash them. You just have to
choose which details make your painting better, emphasize your idea of the painting.