I Did James Gurney's 'Abandoned House ' Painting Challenge | Acrylic Plein Air Painting

I found an abandoned and boarded up house and set up my french easel to do a plein air painting/sketch of the place. This piece felt like a cross between plein air painting and urban sketching since it was such an unconventional subject and in the middle of town. But in a way, it was quite freeing to paint something unconventional. The rules stated that the painting had to be done plein air from direct observation, and that any media could be used. I chose to experiment with Golden Open Acrylics, so that I could layer and that hopefully the under layers of paint would dry, helping me to get a more realistic painting. I normally paint in oils plein air or gouache when I urban sketch, so painting in acrylics felt new to me. We also had to use a limited palette, so I chose ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, and yellow ochre plus white. This triad of colors helped give the painting a realistic and yet nostalgic color harmony that I really enjoyed. I really liked how the alizarin crimson underpainting shows through in spots and gives a slightly rosy hue to the painting. It was so relaxing to paint this house it felt like a form of art therapy to me. James Gurney will pick 5 finalists who will receive his notorious "Department of Art" patches and a gumroad tutorial. I have several of james gurney’s tutorials so I hope I win so I can watch another one. James Gurney frequently shows on his youtube channel how to paint in gouache, how to use limited palettes, urban sketching, plein air painting for beginners etc. He talks about advanced color theory, and getting started in gouache or watercolor. This art challenge was very fun and I like how the acrylic painting turned out. I might have to go urban sketch or plein air paint more abandoned buildings and do a series of paintings!

[JamesGurney]

Hey, Danny! Well done painting and video. Thanks for being part of the challenge.

[CedricWilliamsFineArt]

That's such an amazing painting! Simply acrylic, limited colors on a thin panel!! 👍🏾👍🏾

[stevemascarello]

Also thanks for including your little friends shout-outs. Don't hang to much on what they think. But on the real the shadows in the finished product look really good

[DannySabraArt]

What’s the craziest thing you’ve painted plein air?

[momopaints]

This turned out great! You did awesome. I thought the sketch was even pretty cool. Very nice Danny!

[JosRitter]

Great job on the painting and the video.

[stevemascarello]

Dood how you get the picture to scale was pretty cool.

[teresagrigsby-rose]

How long do the open acrylics stay workable compared to regular acrylics?