Plein Air Painting: oil painting

Showing posts with label oil painting. Show all posts

Plein air painting studies - Tiny tin Pochade
Tuesday, July 25, 2017

It is official! I'm hooked on my tiny tin pochade. It is time to upgrade my supports and try new ones.I'm preparing a batch of linen panels on matboard.It is unbelievable the huge possibility of working and learning so much in such a tiny area.My contact with the great masters original small studies was decisive.Thanks Masters Constable, Boudin and J. Sorolla!
I have already posted here some of these wonderful encounters.

Preparing a batch of linen on matboard panels
Sandra Nunes

Early winter on the Hill
3"x5"
Sandra Nunes

Posted bySandra Nunes at 7:00 PM 0 comments

Labels: altoids painting, Boudin, Constable, impressionism, landscape painting, oil on linen, oil painting, plein air painting, pochade, Sandra Nunes, Sorolla, tin pochade

Arte de Portas Abertas - Santa Teresa Open Studios
Thursday, July 13, 2017

This weekend the district of Santa Teresa will receive thousands of visitors for its Arte de Portas Abertas event.
I will be at Solar Mariano exhibiting some of my recent paintings, if you happen to be in the area, stop by!

Here is the location

See you there!

Posted bySandra Nunes at 7:52 AM 0 comments

Labels: Arte de Portas abertas, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, santa teresa tram, Sata Tersa

My Small Worldwide Studio
Tuesday, July 4, 2017

There's no substitute for the feeling of being in the great outdoors walking, hiking, cycling and painting
Plein air painting is challenging but it is a rewarding experience.

I'm sharing with you some of these moments when I paint and draw my way through life.

Posted bySandra Nunes at 2:16 PM 0 comments

Labels: allaprima painter, cityscape, impressionism, landscape painting, oil painting, outdoor painter, plein air painting, rio de janeiro landscape painting, Sandra Nunes, urban scape

New York out of a mint tin box - New York Impressions
Friday, May 26, 2017

I am always working on ideas to join my two passions, plein air painting and travelling. In my hometown I ride my bikeeasel leading me to places I would not go with a heavier gear. I have got this pochade-mint tint idea from an artist on instagram and I thought I could try it but going a bit larger with the painting dimensions without compromising portability.

Brooklyn Promenade
New York Impressions
Sandra Nunes
Plein air painting

Posted bySandra Nunes at 5:03 PM 0 comments

Labels: Brooklyn promenade, brooklynheights, fieldsketch, impressionism, manhattan skyline, mint tin painting, new york, oil painting, plein air painting, pochade box, Sandra Nunes

Sunset on Columbia - Impressions in New York
Wednesday, May 24, 2017

This time New York received me with a sunny and a bit cold Spring. From Columbia University we have a great view of a spectacular sunset!

Sunset on Columbia
Sandra Nunes
New York Impressions

Posted bySandra Nunes at 7:27 PM 0 comments

Labels: columbia university, harlem, impressionism, new york, oil painting, plein air painting, pochade box, sandra nunes, sunset, teacher's college

Let it Rain! - Happy Easter!
Thursday, April 13, 2017

Plein air painting on rainy days is a real challenge, but it is a rewarding experience! There is no substitute for the feeling of being there...

The special light and wet atmosphere sets the tone of the painting.

Let it Rain!
Sandra Nunes
oil on canvas
50x90cm

There is a strong sense of urgency, specially when you don´t have shelter anywhere nearby.

Plein air painting on a rainy day
Sandra Nunes

Happy Easter everyone!

Posted bySandra Nunes at 6:18 PM 0 comments

Labels: cityscape painting, Corcovado, impressionism, oil on canvas, oil painting, pleinair painting, rainyday, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, urban painting, wet street

Plein Air Painting - New York 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016

Harlem Adventures- Apollo Theater

Painting outdoors poses a lot of problems as compared with painting in the studio, where you have a controlled environment. Working on the sidewalks of a great city requires even more attention.

The autumn light was wonderful , I went out early in the morning straight to 125th street ready to capture the hustle-bustle of people and the light on the iconic Apollo Theater facade.

I opened my easel and pochade box strategically in the sun trying to neutralize the 12c. temperature.

125th street - New York
Apollo Theater

After some minutes stablishing the composition and block in, my view of the theme is completely blocked!

Apollo Theater - New York
My view completely blocked by a sidewalk vendor

Apparently I had chosen a spot already taken by its usual owner. The young man parked his cart some steps from me and after a look that I didn´t understand at that moment, he started to assemble his stand and merchandise .

What to do? Considering that I was painting in a neighborhood that I had no idea of what kind of risks I was exposed, I just continued working, trying to see "through" the obstacles.

Little by little, his stand was assembled, my view was cleared, and we got along with each other all the morning in our activities.

Sandra Nunes
Plein Air Painting in New York
Apollo Theater

Posted bySandra Nunes at 6:54 PM 0 comments

Labels: 125th street, apollo theater, cityscape, harlem, impressionism, new york, oil painting, plein air painting, pochade box, Sandra Nunes, urban painting

Urca - Ramon Franco Street
Saturday, October 22, 2016

This is one of my favorite places to paint in Rio de Janeiro - the district of Urca. I love the leafy trees along the streets filtering the harsh summer light!

Ramon Franco Street
oil on linen 30x50 cm
Sandra Nunes

Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:41 AM 0 comments

Labels: alla prima, impressionism, landscape painting, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, Urca

Ilha Grande
Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Back to Paradise Island. The turquoise color water under a bright afternoon light was inviting my brushes!

Ilha Grande - Praia da Bica

óleo sobre tela

Sandra Nunes

Sandra Nunes
Pintando na Ilha Grande - Praia da Bica

Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:35 PM 0 comments

Labels: ilha grande, impressionism, marine painting, oil painting, plein air painting, rio de janeiro seascape, Sandra Nunes, seascapes

The Undertow
Tuesday, August 2, 2016

On the Eve of the Olympics Rio 2016, the star of last weekend was the undertow. It was an excellent opportunity to capture once more the hypnotic movement of the waves. The sea is always an inspiration and capturing the dynamic of its movement is a great challenge!

the undertow
oil on panel
16x22 cm
Sandra Nunes

This is a less than one minute video of a beautiful moment of this plein air painting session. Enjoy!

Posted bySandra Nunes at 2:17 PM 0 comments

Labels: bike easel, impressionism, marinepaintings, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, Seascape, undertow

Plein Air Painting - Europe 2016 - London - Part III
Saturday, July 30, 2016

Russia and the Arts - The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky

Sandra Nunes
National Portrait Gallery
London 2016

One of the highlights of my trip to Europe this year was having to chance to attend this exhibition in London. A collection of portraits of Musicians, writers, actors, and artistic patrons is on display with masterpieces from the prestigious Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow
It is a parade of faces, feelings in a reunion of heroes from the end of the nineteen century till 1914. They are intense, tormented...

Modest Mussorgsky, 1881 by Ilia Repin

This masterpiece by Ilya Repin portrays the composer Modest Mussorgsky on his last days is of his life at the age of 42. The painting was commissioned by Pavel Tretyakov, the philanthropist who founded the state gallery, it was painted in a military hospital in St Petersburg.The composer sat for four difficult days in 1881, dying before the planned final sitting. Repin found it the most powerful and poignant commission of his career, donating his fee to a memorial for the composer.

Mikhail Vrubel, Portrait of N. Zabela Vrubel

But while we are familiar with figures such as Akhmatova, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy , we are less familiar with the Russian painters of the time.Painters like Serov, Repin and Mikhail Vrubel are almost unknown in the western hemisphere. We are much more familiar with Russian avant garde painters like Kandinsky and Malevich.

Fedor Dostoesvsky, 1879 by Vasily Perov

Dostoevsky's portrait by Perov shows a frail man sitting in the dark, pale and skinny, showing all the suffering he had during the years he was arrested, sent to a labour camp and the subsequent five years of enforced military service.
Nothing I can write here can describe what one feels seeing this masterpiece up close and personal.

"Russia and the Arts is an exceptional collection of works. Many of these had never left Russia prior to this exchange, and certainly most have never been seen in the UK before. But more than this, it is a genuinely fascinating show that reveals much of the variety in artistic styles in Russian painters at that time, and, in the shadows that haunt their sitters, these portraitists reveal much of the turbulence and turmoil that engulfed Russia in these years." Huffingtonpost

Time to rest my eyes and do my "homework". Painting the postcard, after all I am in London!

At this time of the year, days are longer, it is nice to watch the sunset at 10 pm!

Sandra Nunes
Painting the London Bridge
London 2016

You can read London part II here

and London part I here

Posted bySandra Nunes at 7:07 PM 0 comments

Labels: impressonism, london bridge, oil painting, painting in london, portrait painting, realism, Repin, Russian painting, Sandra Nunes, Sevov, simbolism, Vrubel

Plein Air Painting - Europe 2016 - London Part I
Saturday, July 2, 2016

I´m back from Europe, as usual I'm late with my posts here and as usual greatly inspired after an overdose of viewing great Art, I feel like painting 24 hours a day!

I´ll try to show here some highlights of these amazing days.

London

Meeting Sargent...

Meeting Sargent - Tate Britain Gallery

While it is wonderful to see great masterpieces up close and personal , we can never lose the opportunity to learn from the studies and the unfinished works...

Study for Madame Gatreaux
J. S. Sargent

Turner

Turner's many studies of Nature forms and fleeting effects convey the artist's inquisitive mind and his constant search for the pictorial possibilities in the world around him. Spanning fifty one years of his life, they served as valuable reference material in the composition and finished works.

Trees and Skies
J.W. Turner

Goring Mill and Church - JW. Turner
There´s no preliminary drawing in this unfinished work,
the sky is sufficiently developed o show that the weather
is fine and the war clouds suggest afternoon...

Their function as studies allowed for greater freedom to experiment with format, medium and technique. Turner´s focus varies from the single motif to wider views of the landscape, encompassing foliage, mountains, rivers, skies and the sea which exerted a particular fascination for him later in his life.

J. W. Turner

Turner drew prolifically in sketchbooks of various shapes and sizes, some of which(about 300!) are now held at Tate. In 1801 he used this small sketchbook during hs tour in Scotland, which included an exploration on the Highlands. This sketchbook below is open at studies completed in guache, a more opaque medium than watercolor, giving solidity to the mountain form.

Turner's Sketchbook

Time to rest the eyes and do my "homework":

Sandra Nunes
Sketching in watercolor - Hyde Park

To be continued in the next post with another Great Master: Constable!

Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:10 AM 0 comments

Labels: Constable, John Singer Sargent, landscape painting, London, madame gatreaux, oil painting, plein air painting, pochade, Sandra Nunes, sketchbook, Tate Gallery, Turner

Marina da Gloria
Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Rio de Janeiro is getting ready for the Olympics. Marina da Gloria was completely remodelled for the Nautical games, its amazing, the view is a post card for itself.

The bike easel sometimes takes me to places that are sometimes impossible to reach by car.Why not join two pleasures and work?

Marina da Gloria

oil on panel 16x22cm

Sandra Nunes

Pochade Box on my bike-ease

Posted bySandra Nunes at 6:11 AM 0 comments

Labels: impressionism, Marina da Gloria, marine painting, oil painting, plein air painting, pochade, rio de janeiro landscape, Rio olympics, Sandra Nunes

From Plein Air Painting to Studio Work
Thursday, December 24, 2015

There is no Greater Master than Nature when learning to paint. Nothing substitutes the observation and constant training of the eyes when facing natural elements.In fact, learning to paint is learning to see and translate our inner vision. Whenever I´m asked why plein air painting I have longer and shorter answers, but I always state that they are completely different ways of working.
Recently I finished in the studio the painting I´m posting now. It is a very large work for plein air!
I had already done smaller works with this theme, but for this one I started with compositional studies on the site and brought them to the studio to be developed into the final painting.

Victoria Regia - The Star of the Waters
oil on canvas 180 x 80 cm
Sandra Nunes

On the next post I´ll show the preliminary studies for this work.
By now, Happy Holidays!
I wish you a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Sandra Nunes Victoria Regia -

The Star of the Waters

oil on canvas 180 x 80 cm

Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:33 AM 0 comments

Labels: botanic garden, impressionism, ninpheas, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, victoria regia

Santa Teresa - Almirante Alexandino Street
Saturday, August 29, 2015

It´s been four years since the district of Santa Teresa lost its charming Tram. Now, the neighborhood is getting ready to receive the new vehicles.
In fact, they have started now to run experimentally, along a short distance.
Little by little I´ve been returning to this collection that gives me so much pleasure to paint. I´ve been working on new compositions, revisiting some other ones and on a rhythm in harmony with Santa Teresa's I´ll be posting some works here and on my website. Thanks for following this!

Almirante Alexandrino Street
Oil on canvas 120x 90 cm
Sandra Nunes

Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:16 PM 0 comments

Labels: curvelo, impressionism, largo dos guimaraes, new tram, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, santa teresa tram. old tram

Arte de Portas Abertas - Santa Teresa Open Studios
Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Thanks everyone who attended my show at Centro Cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo this weekend. It was great meeting old friends and making new ones!
The show runs til August 30th from Tuesday to Sunday - from 10 am to 05:00 pm
If you happen to be in Rio at this time, stop by!

Arte de Portas Abertas
Opening Night
Sandra Nunes

Arte de Portas Abertas
Centro Cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo
Sandra Nunes

Arte de Portas Abertas

Centro Cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo
Sandra Nunes

Posted bySandra Nunes at 1:44 PM 0 comments

Labels: Arte de Portas abertas, Centro cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo, chave mestra, impressionism, oil painting, sandra nunes, santa teresa tram

Vitória Regia, Star of the Waters
Friday, May 22, 2015

There´s a Tupi Guarani legend which tells that whenever the moon hid itself behind the horizon, it took its favorite maiden to live in the sky. If the moon fell in love with a girl, the girl would turn into a star. Naia, daughter of an Indian chief and princess of the tribe, was impressed with the story. Then at night when everyone was asleep , she climbed the hills chasing for the moon in the hope that it would see her.But the moon did not seem to notice her and couldn´t hear her sobs of sadness in the distance. One night, Naia saw in the clear waters of a lake the shape of the moon. The poor girl, imagining that the moon had come to pick her up, threw herself into the deep waters of the lake and was never seen again.

The moon, wanted to reward the sacrifice of a young beauty, and decided to turn it into a different star from those that shine in the sky. She transformed her into a "Star of the Waters," which is the Victoria Regia plant. Thus a plant was born whose white fragrant flowers only open at night, and at sunrise look rosy and dies.

Whenever I go to Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden I stop at Frei Leandro´s pond to watch the water lillies. This time the "Star of the Waters" called my attention to paint this horizontal composition.

Star of the Waters Sandra Nunes

- oil on canvas 40 x 120 cm

Posted bySandra Nunes at 8:23 AM 0 comments

Labels: Botanical Garden, floral painting, oil painting, pleinairpainting, Sandra Nunes, star of the waters, victoria regia, victoria_amazonica

2014 Last Brushstrokes?
Monday, December 29, 2014

Maybe...

Summer has just arrived and the temperature in Rio has been around 40c these days. This is not the best season for plein air painting here.

The best time to stay out is very early morning or late afternoon. This morning I cycled to Urca for a quick sketch. Its tree lined streets are a real invite to paint.

My bike-easel set up

Capturing the warmth of this sunny summer morning in Urca

Felix Laranjeiras Square Urca
Sandra Nunes
oil on gallery wrap canvas
22x27 cm

Posted bySandra Nunes at 9:34 PM 0 comments

Labels: impressionism, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes, sketch in oil, Urca

At the Ferry Boat Station
Friday, November 7, 2014

There´s something about this place that I keep coming back to paint it...

Ferry Boat Station
Oil on linen
Sandra Nunes

Posted bySandra Nunes at 6:10 AM 0 comments

Labels: impressinism, Niterói, oil painting, plein air painting, praça quinze, Rio de janeiro landscapes, Sandra Nunes

Popular Market at Uruguaiana Street
Saturday, September 6, 2014

I´ve tried to capture the hustle-bustle of this downtown popular market. The red awning against the green leafy trees was a plus!

Rua Uruguaiana Popular Market
oil on linen 30 x 30 cm
Sandra Nunes

Posted bySandra Nunes at 6:38 PM 0 comments

Labels: camelódromo, cityscape, impressionism, mercado popular, oil painting, plein air painting, Rio de janeiro landscapes, rua uruguaiana, Sandra Nunes