Studying Light: A Fast Painting Exercise

Sometimes we don’t have time to make a full painting. Instead, try creating short, small, and fun studies of changes you see in a landscape.

Painting during backpacking trips is one of my favorite times to create, but it is also one of the most challenging. It is always hard to carve out the time to sit down between the hike, setting up camp, eating all the snacks, and relaxing after all that hiking. And sometimes making the time and mental space may not even feel relaxing at all. So, on a recent trip I tried something new: sneaking in four 10-15 minute study sessions of the same scene over the course of a day to document how it changed over time. And it was so fun! 

Here's a little behind the scenes info on how to approach this painting exercise next time you are out, too! I hope you give it a try!

Choosing a Scene: I like to find a view that I can access really easily from camp. During this trip, I chose the distant sea stacks. I also try to find a view that I know will change over time and that can be easily simplified. This usually means I go for a view that is farther away so it isn't always in shadow. I also find that views farther away simply have less detail visible because of the distance, so I am less likely to get bogged down while painting. 

Set a time limit: For these little sketches I decided on a maximum of 15 minutes. I knew this would give me enough time to quickly sketch and force me to ignore most of the details and focus just on the biggest shapes and swaths of color. 

Observe changes in color: Often, in a landscape color will reflect how the light changes. In this landscape, I was amazed at how much the colors of the ocean shifted within just a few hours of each painting. I am also not afraid to exaggerate the colors a little bit, too! This is more fun, and if I'm not having fun with the scene I am not very likely to finish more than one. 

Look for shifts in value: In addition to color, as light shifts the placement of shadows and areas of light and dark will also shift. For example, my sea stacks barely changed in value throughout the afternoon because the sun was setting behind them. But, on the next morning, the sun was in a completely different spot and illuminated the hazy sea air more and lightened the appearance of the sea stacks. 

Choose a painting frequency that works for you: At first I wanted to paint the scene exactly every two hours, but I quickly realized that there was no way I was going to stop eating dinner to go paint. So, I let go of my expectations and simply chose times to add a painting around my other camp and evening activities. Once I let go of the more structured approach, I had a lot more fun with them.

Each painting is a record: A series of paintings like this can feel committing / intimidating the farther along I get! I star to get nervous about "messing up" my page with a bad sketch, a thought that has deterred me in the past from finishing little projects like this. So, I try to remind myself that perfection is not my goal. My goal is to observe, and document those observations on my page, and to see a "mistake" as a record of something that was extra interesting or compelling to me!

While this kind of sketch is ideal for a backpacking trip, it is also really enjoyable to do from any location where you can see changes in light. In the winter when the weather is too miserable to want to hike, I will even create these studies of the view outside my window! 

If you create a series of light observations I would love to see! You can always reach out anytime with questions or to share work at claire@adventureartacademy.com