These images came from our trip out to the Leighton Centre the other day.  On the way back my wife and I took one of the side roads and just picked a spot to stop where we could pull to the side of the road and then we tried to find what subjects were there.  I enjoy the challenge of trying to make something out of whatever is available.

The bottom image is the plein air sketch that I did.  I think it made the most of the particular scene.  When I got home I noticed right away that there was an issue with the values.  Not enough value contrast.  Also I tried to include too much of what was actually there just because it was there.  When I looked at it the next day I made some changes to the composition to try to get to the essence of the subject.  The top image is the one I did in the studio the next day.  As always plein air painting is always a great learning experience.

For me plein air painting is about the experience of being there, the sights, the sounds and about collecting information.  For me it’s not about a beautiful finished painting. There’s nothing like it.