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I'd like to show you how I build a plein air painting from a blank canvas to finish.  Upon arriving early one morning, the sky was clear and the water was glassy with a beautiful reflection of this wonderful Haleiwa Town scene.  As I began painting, the clouds rolled in and the breeze came up enough to ripple up the reflection.  

Here's how it looked when I first arrived, then the second photo is when the clouds and wind came on in...  This is why it is very important to practice a lot to be able to lay in a scene quickly before the light changes too much.  

Here we go...

First, I apply a thin wash of color, usually with Viridian green and I also used a bit of Transparent Iron Oxide:

The next step is to sketch in the drawing, just a very rough sketch to get an idea of where everything will be... I use red paint to do this.  On this painting, the first lay in of my drawing was not correct so I wiped it out and adjusted things with the second try.  I also began to lay in the large shapes with their dark color/value...

As I'm preparing to paint, I look for a compositional idea, and with my first sketch in, the horizon line was right smack in the middle which usually doesn't allow the painting to have a strong composition.  It's ideal to think in thirds with the horizon line as well as with the vertical center line.  So I moved the horizon line down and now I am filling in the larger shapes with their darker value, with a thin amount of paint.  I work from dark to light, as when one is painting with the wet on wet technique, it is the best way to keep the paint color looking clean and not muddy.  I also work from thin to thick to help keep the color nice and clean.

My goal is to fill in the canvas as quickly as possible, to really be able to capture the light.  The sun moves so quickly, this makes the later process much easier, since I have my values and color and shadow and light all set up to help me keep working on the painting as the light changes.  

More filling in the shapes and value...

Here I've layed in enough paint along with the correct values/tones, to keep the light and shadow pretty much the same as when I began.

Now it's time to build and refine the forms...

This is starting to take shape!  Working with reflections is always a fun challenge for me. 

Then adding some of the thicker "eye candy" detail work begins... Also pushing and pulling the tree holes is another challenge to be attended to...

And finally I've pulled everthing together to be able to finish this plein air session with at least 90% of the painting finished.  The rest I will attend to in my studio with the photos I took along my painting process.  I could also go back to the place on another clear morning at the same time of the year to finish it.  However, with plein air painting the weather does not usually cooperate and the next day or week could be all cloudy and rainy and windy, so I usually use my photos to finish off a plein air painting.  

I was so inspired by this scene and paint session I immediately went to my studio to add the finsihing touches.  

Tah Daaaahhh, the finished product!