PARK Painting

DENIS JOHN-NAYLOR is known as “The Man that Paints the Park”. Here he shows why a local green space is all you need to get to grips with painting outdoors this summer

- DENIS JOHN-NAYLOR

Parks can be as inspirational as anywhere for the landscape painter. My local park has everything I need: sky, trees, water, fields of grass and other foliage. The sky can change frequently, sunlight continually moves altering highlights and shadows, and seasonal changes significantly alter the scenery. Un-mown summer fields are a gift to the artist. I could paint a different park picture every day.

Painting outdoors – or en plein air – challenges our ability, creativity and perception of the world around us. We need to look for what we can actually see not what we think is there; interpreting what we see into a painted image in our own unique way. React to the light and try to forget about local colour (the colour which we know an object to be). Bright light can warm and brighten local colour, whereas shade will cool and darken it. Look carefully to judge where these changes have taken place.

Painting outdoors is a spontaneous and personal experience; every session presents different challenges. I never fail to find a subject because I will just paint anything. This gives me an experience I may never have had. Your goal should be to paint like you – not like me or anyone else. In meeting this challenge, you will then create original works of art through your own vision.

All plein air painting is a compromise. From the time you select your subject to the moment you begin painting, the light will have changed the appearance of the scene. Try to think of it simply as making marks; marks in an arrangement that suggests the subject. I use all sides and edges of my brush to maximise my mark-making abilities.

GETTING STARTED