Painting On Location Painting Tips

by Kevin Haller

tompooleart.com

These painting tips are from my great friend and great artist Kevin Haller. Kevin lives in St. Louis and does almost all of his painting en plein air.

Some Thoughts on Painting on Location

by Kevin Haller

Supplies

Minimize the items that you bring on location.The list below is representative of the items that I carry into the field.

• one light aluminum easel
  

• One pencil and sharpener
  

• eight paint tubes
  

• three brushes: #8 round, 1" flat and a rigger
  

• one small palette
  

• a watercolor paper block
  

• roll of paper towels
  

• container for water
  

• and a small 4" X 6" view-finder to frame your subject
  

Mindset

Do not leave the spot until you have a 100% finished and signed painting. Any studio work performed on the piece later will only add timidity and weaken your artistic statement.

Your first 200 paintings are for practice only. Painting "en plein air" is not easy. It is quite likely that no customer will show up wanting to buy your initial plein air works. In this regard, it helps me to always keep in mind that my most important goal is to build a body of work over my liketime that I respect love, and hcerish. This is far more important than sales!

Lastly, don't hold back. Don't be timid. Just like singing, paint like no one is watching and there is no tomorrow.

You can contact Kevin at khaller@sbcglobal.net and visit Kevin's art website at

www.kevinhaller.com

back to tips for artists

Of all of these supplies, the one most crucial to success is the view-finder. It will help you draw and place the shapes accurately on the picutre plane.

Tom Poole