Plein air painting on an overcast morning

We have a long weekend in Germany starting today. Since there was no hurry to get the kiddo ready for school, I had made up my mind to go outdoors and paint today. Within 5 minutes drive from my home, there are these beautiful poppy fields on either side of the highway. I have been seeing these fields everyday when I drive to the school, but never really had the time to go out and paint. So glad I finally went out this morning. 

My set up and the scene before me.

It was an overcast sky, no sign of the sun whatsoever. That really challenged me in terms of the greys and the greens bordering on grey. Almost every colour that I mixed seem too dark in value and I had to lighten it. It was a great exercise in seeing and observation. 

Finished painting with my set up :-)

I loved being out in the open today with chirping birds for company. I might create a studio painting out of this on a slightly larger size with this painting as the reference. That would be a great challenge too. And I hope to get some plein air done in the next couple of days too. 

Poppy fields on an overcast morning
Oil on board, 5 by 7 inches
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Let me know what you think! 

Poppy fields gallery

I have put together all the paintings of poppy fields over the last week. It was complete fun I must say! Started the first one with as much details as I could, and as the series progressed, I tried to loosen up more and more, and have reached a stage where I really like the last painting :-) Let me hear from you, which one do you like? Couple of them are terrible, some are passable I think :-) It was fun nevertheless. Clicking on each image will link to the original blog posts in my other blog 300to30.

I have some big canvasses lined up next, they were almost forgotten in all the time I have been working small. I am thinking of restarting the dancers. And on the small painting front I think it is going to be more landscapes coming your way.