Jeanne Rosier Smith

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Artist pro tip

Beginners often really struggle with green.  Here’s a suggestion:  take your greens out into the grass and drop them.  If they are easy to find (bright, or blue-green) don’t use them to paint grass!  Those are probably great greens for seascapes.  The ones that blend in are your natural, landscape greens.  And of course, the best way to make greens look realistic in a landscape is to add more colors. 

See my blog on greens. 

Jeanne Rosier Smith
FEATURE artist February 2017

View Jeanne's Website

​There is just nothing like directly observing color and value in nature.  I consider plein air work as true practice which strengthens all of my art muscles: observation, judgment, composition and design, simplifying.

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SST: Everyone loves a great studio. What is your painting setup, and how do your hours working outdoors help you working indoors?

Jeanne: My studio is small but efficient. I have a large, north-facing window in a 10’ x 13’ space. I’ve placed two Richeson’s Best easels on either side of a large kitchen table. Just recently I moved a desk to the end of this kitchen table to give myself more room for my pastels, which are arranged in 7 large Ikea dinner trays, according to color and value. I have a bit of a pastel addiction. The advantage to the trays is that, depending on the painting I’m working on I can rearrange the trays to have the most useful colors nearest to me. 

​For outdoors I have two different Heilman boxes, the small backback which I use most of the time, and the double sketchbox for traveling. I use a Benro tripod.  Right now the ground here in Massachusetts is snow-covered, but when it gets warm enough, I love to paint outside. When I first started painting plein air I found it intimidating and frustrating, because of all the quick decisions and distractions, but even then I could see how it benefited my studio practice. As I’ve gotten used to it (and lowered my expectations) I truly enjoy it.  There is just nothing like directly observing color and value in nature.  I consider plein air work as true practice which strengthens all of my art muscles:  observation, judgment, composition and design, simplifying. With limited time and changing light, plein air painting encourages me to rely on intuition and work quickly, which results in fresher work. Then back in the studio, I have a much better perspective on how to read my photos, which never tell the whole truth. This has helped me feel much freer to deviate, interpret, and orchestrate for myself when working in the studio.​

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PSST:  How do you describe your painting style and color choices? For a beginner, do you have suggestions for selecting pastels for landscape and seascape painting? 
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Jeanne: I would say I use realistic color as a suggestion, and I love playing with color to heighten visual and emotional effect. I love it when I hear people say, ‘up close your work seems almost abstract, and yet when I stand far away, it looks so realistic.’ My style has gotten looser and more painterly over time; I am interested in showing the marks and strokes on the paper surface while at the same time rendering something recognizable. That line between the surface of the paper and realistic rendering is fascinating to me and I enjoy playing with that for the viewer. I like it when a viewer’s experience is different at 30 feet, 10 feet and 3 feet away. ​

Seascape created by Jeanne Rosier Smith

PSST: Do you have any tips you would like to share on preparing for Plein Air workshops in Texas? Are there problematic areas to avoid, and how do you protect yourself from the elements? 
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Jeanne: This will be my first one in Texas—so I’m not sure. I lived in Texas 25 years ago, but was not painting then—I was a young mother and in grad school. In general my tips are don’t forget the sunscreen, a hat, water, and bug spray! If you aren’t comfortable where you’re painting, you won’t paint well.
 
PSST: Continued learning is important. Do you have a favorite workshop instructor or book that you would like to recommend and why?

Jeanne: Two books on painting that I recommend are Ian Roberts, ­Mastering Composition  and Mitchell Albala, Landscape Painting. Both are chock full of information on how to approach your painting process from start to finish.  And my new favorite book on life and art is Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland—I recommend this as required reading for anyone interested in furthering their creative efforts.

Seascape by Jeanne Rosier Smith

Upcoming classes & events with Jeanne

Schedule in brief

March: Fort Hill, SC
April: Clute & Galveston, TX
May: Portland, OR and La Conner, WA
June: Provence/Riviera, France – a weeklong travel tour
​(still a couple spots left)
September: Little Compton, RI
October:  Portsmouth, NH and Morro Bay, CA

I will have a solo opening at Gallery 31 in Orleans, MA in August.
 
​Find out more at www.jeannerosiersmith.com .

Landscape by Jeanne Rosier Smith