I will be sharing weekly recaps this month, but let’s start with day 01 to kick things off. I spent the morning at a beautiful location near Findochty on the northeast Scottish coast. It was perfect t-shirt weather, sunny, with only a whisper of wind.

I was spoiled for choice but the first thing that caught my eye was a sliver of light cutting across some of the dramatic rocks in the distance. There were many layers of cliffs visible which offered an opportunity to play with atmospheric perspective.

#PleinAirpril is a month long challenge to paint outside every day.

To be honest I was a little overwhelmed by the beauty after being stuck inside for so long. I was like a kid in a candy shop! I didn’t even think about sticking to a limited palette…one of my most basic rules. So the result was a little…colorful. But I had a blast and there’s nothing quite like coastal therapy (second only to forest therapy).

I approached the scene with pure joy and a playful spirit. Probably because it was the first “perfect” weather day of the year. I just couldn’t believe my luck!

I went straight in with a small brush to draw my major shapes. In retrospect I should have taken an extra 10 minutes to do a little value study, but hey sometimes we get too excited!

Then I layed in some initial washes – these represent my first impression of the scene (color and light). Then I used a flat brush to block in some of the shadow shapes of the rocks. I think it would have benefited from pre-mixing more of my shadow color.

I put my paper in full sun so that it would dry faster. But the struggle with that is if you run out of a mix, it’s nearly impossible to match it exactly.

There was quite a variety of color in the rocks, and I enjoyed putting together that puzzle. Next time I think I will spend more time on the rock shapes, as I think I made them a little too repetative.

Most of my supplies are listed on my supply page.

This is a quicky and easy setup for gouache plein air. Everything fits inside my backpack. I also often carry a small folding stool but I prefer to stand and paint. You can usually find those at an outdoor/camping store.

All in all I was happy with the result after an hour, despite seeing many things I can improve upon. But that’s the point – we go out, we paint, and we learn! I focus on enjoying the experience no matter what.

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