Don L. Parks

Don believes that field studies done on location are the key to achieving in painting the true color of nature.  “Very few photographs capture accurate color throughout the range of darks and lights.  A photograph containing medium or high contrast of darks and light areas will have the light or “high key” areas “burn” toward white during the typical film or image processing to a printed image.  The dark areas such as in shadows will lose their blues and violets and become grayed or black.  Thus, printed photographs are good for compositional ideas but are not useful for color reference.”  Don references his “color library” of hundreds of field studies to evaluate the desired color in his paintings. 

  He feels that field studies also develop an artist’s mental image of how nature’s colors can be accurately achieved in painting.  Frequently painting on location improves an artist’s studio painting even if no reference is made to the field studies.  Therefore an artist will do well by applying the insect repellant, anchoring the easel and umbrella against the wind, placing the canvas and palette in the shade and ‘cranking’ out the color studies.  Don approaches such outside painting as the research and study needed to succeed in painting; it is no different than the in-depth knowledge needed to succeed in any occupation.  He believes that this study and painting on location, or in plein air, pays big dividends in the quality of his landscape art.