Plein Air Podcast 258: Scott Christensen on His Color Palette, Gouache, and More

[@alhernandez4304]

Very Interesting conversation. 'Thank you for your expertise and for sharing your experience Scott. Thank you, Erick.

[@charlotteb.derrick5117]

Thank you ERIC RHODES!💜

[@pennynicholls]

Such a pleasure to see and hear Scott Christensen, one of the most precious creative creatures on the planet !

[@seventhsun1]

Thank you for the interview!

[@pierrebouret5017]

Great interview and enlightening, Thank you Eric and Scott. Come to Kauai's north shore and we can paint.

[@Shuvah2Him]

Good interview!

[@elisabethseeger5837]

I agree- there are “trends” in painting. Speed, simplicity and impressionist styles - great but I prefer my own way and style emerges the longer and harder i work.

[@elisabethseeger5837]

I lived across from that museum for 6 months and loved the Levitan especially. The enormity of some of the paintings was even hard to take in- honestly the hugeness was unpleasant to me. I think in those days huge was an aspect of public competition- to me that enormity doesn’t add anything.

[@ronschlorff7089]

Did not know his paintings were that huge; may be the demands of a client for commissions, hard to gauge on vid presentations, I guess. I like to be painting small, both studio and plein air. Can't really do that outdoors with a big canvas or panel, at least not me. I like his color harmonies the best especially in low light scenes, near "the end of the day"!! ;D

[@devinmichaelroberts9954]

@@ronschlorff7089 his paintings are not huge... she must have been talking about other paintings in the museum. He has a few really large works but thats about it. Most are what i'd consider medium.. maybe 4 feet wide being the larger end.

[@ronschlorff7089]

@@devinmichaelroberts9954 Thanks for that insight! Useful. None the less I suppose they are "huge" accomplishments in the art world, in my opinion, regardless of the actual dimensions!! : )

[@potatosex]

30:07 I’m confused by what Scott says here about using cad yellow lemon which is a very acidic yellow but staying away from cad yellow medium. Because he talks about adding red to make the green more natural but cad yellow medium leans more red. Doesn’t compute for me. Does it boil down to level of chroma? What I would give to pick Scott’s brain….

[@devinmichaelroberts9954]

Its actually not as acidic as a yellow medium or regular cad. Lemons are considered a cleaner yellow in mixtures because of how cool they are so when you mix just cad lemon and cobalt you get a less acidic green. Taking just lemon and cobalt you can CHOOSE which red to add to it and how much, so his point was by using a lemon you have more control. You can choose how much red, what type, maybe you want a touch of alizarin in the green instead of the orangish red that is in a cad yellow medium.

[@abtenlilly]

took so many notes. which Russian painters are ya'll talking about? love the challenge of just painting with Venetian red, yellow ochre and cobalt blue but which white? lead or titanium or both?

[@ronschlorff7089]

Very good podcast, lots of great information and only a few "silly" questions from Eric at the end for poor Scott to try to answer!! Art is a tough business today, and it is getting tougher, glad I did not try it full time, went into a science career instead, my other passion when entering college, decades go. But you can still learn an interesting craft, then and now, while doing other things in order to eat daily, and have some fun and meet nice people, like Scott and Eric, while doing it. One thing, among so many others, that Scott said was very important and that is that painting is mostly thinking about solving problems, big ones and little ones. That needs/requires intense focus, so I think these group events like the conventions and plein air events/competitions are actually counterproductive for someone who is "serious" about learning to paint. There are far too many distractions, best to just keep painting and trying new things/media to get better. Constant study and practice are the answers to getting competent, just like playing a musical instrument, you must do it almost daily, and with few interruptions. Being a "loner" helps, as Scott says. If you do find that your own self is your "best company", then you may have a chance at this art thing. However, the Conventions are a good place to maybe "hook up" with someone who shares your interests anyway. Probably that's the best value for your money to go to these things. :D And Lake Tahoe should be fun, for 2025. I'm in AZ now, but lived near the Lake, for many years, and painted all around the area, and other nearby Sierran locations, during the 90's to early 2000's, and I know all the "good spots". I have painted at scores of them, mostly alone, and will sell you a long list, complete with maps, Eric, if you want some "secret" plein air venues that no one else will know about at the Convention!! LOL ;D. Now, here is one "freebie" for you: Hope Valley, particularly in the west fork of the Kit Carson River area. Perhaps you already know of it, many folks in northern CA go there to photograph "fall colors", along Hwy 88. And for Scott, the east fork of that same river would be the best place to fly fish, just out of the tiny village of Markleeville!! Been there, done that, too! Once had a 53 catch and release day there!! LOL ;D

[@pleinaire8698]

Hi Ron, my favorite painting place is Hope Valley and yes, I have a few secret painting spots there❤

[@ronschlorff7089]

@@pleinaire8698 yup, great spot, but that and the coast are the Only things I miss about CA now!! ;D

[@pleinaire8698]

@@ronschlorff7089 I’m on the Eastern side of the Sierras and still enjoying it here after almost 50 years!

[@ronschlorff7089]

@@pleinaire8698 Yeah, nice. And check out Big Pine Canyon, little lakes valley, out of Big Pine. I went there to paint, a few times where Payne painted in 30's and 40's, for a week, with mules packing my stuff and a friend's in. Have you? But bring a few gallons of water against the attitude, (10,500 feet), stickiness, LOL. Also, bring lots of Deet, for the billions of mosquitos there in August!! LOL ;D

[@pleinaire8698]

@@ronschlorff7089 still I love living on the eastern side of the Sierras and go to Hope Valley twice a month.. painting, kayaking and generally chilling out!! Blue Lakes is one of my favorites along with Woodlake, Kirkwood Lake and Silver Lake!🥰❤️