As I write this note, I’m thinking about a highlight from the Plein Air Live program: my conversation with three living legends, Matt Smith, Skip Whitcomb, and Bill Anton. As attendees of the 4th annual event can attest, the trio’s passion for plein air painting was palpable, as was their deep friendship and appreciation of one another’s work.
I took down many inspiring quotes and pieces of wisdom shared by these landscape painting icons, but the one that has driven me to my laptop this morning came as we discussed the booming interest in painting outdoors. “Some people refer to plein air painting as a style,” Anton said. “It’s not a style, it’s a discipline.”
For each of these contemporary masters, that discipline has looked different at various points in their careers. It may have been simply a tool to better understand how light affects the landscape and find ways to problem-solve back in the studio, an approach for creating works good enough to frame and sell, or ultimately a way to more deeply inform studio work. For Whitcomb, who says he started his landscape painting career selling works out of his paint box, “those studies are much more valuable to me now as reference in the studio.”
In the magazine, we celebrate and promote all of those approaches, and more. In this issue, you’ll see the color and gestural information featured artist Heather Arenas gathers in her plein air figure studies and how those studies relate to her studio paintings of museum-goers as they interact with the work on the walls. In the stories about Shanna Kunz and Tony Allain, you can compare the level of finish and detail the artists strive for in their studio pieces versus the work they complete en plein air.
“Bridging that gap from working outdoors to working in the studio on larger pieces is like trying to build a bridge across the Grand Canyon for most of us,” Whitcomb said during our conversation for Plein Air Live, “but learning to do so has made all the difference.”
In the article “Beyond Plein Air,” Christine Lashley addresses exactly this issue, taking us through her solutions to the problems that arise when we try to translate plein air studies into larger studio paintings. Topics she covers include how extra room on the canvas may influence our decisions when it comes to scale and ratio; how to retain the feeling of vitality and momentum in our studio work; and how to avoid strident color, awkward shapes, and superfluous detail, common pitfalls when working large.
Smith and the other living legends see the reinvigoration of the plein air painting discipline in recent decades as a good thing for the art world. “The more people that come to art, know what it is and how we go about doing it, the better for everyone,” Smith said. “I’m out painting all the time and I’ll get people walking up to me on the trail, curious about what I’m doing, and my hope is always that they’ll go on and Google plein air painting or landscape painting and study it even more.”
For those already plein air painting, he recommends “looking to art history books for inspiration; going outdoors to paint is nothing new.” Then it’s about working hard. Just be patient, he warns. “When I got my first French easel and went outdoors, I spent five years painting full time on location before I got a painting that I thought, ‘OK, whoa, what happened there? That worked!’ The next year, I probably got three paintings that worked, and then it started to build on itself. When you’re getting started, it’s important to know the tools of your trade, what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and to balance that with what’s happening back in the studio.”
Whether you’re a curious bystander, collector, or committed landscape painter, I hope the stories in this issue give you plenty to think about in terms of defining what plein air painting means to you, why the artists you admire do what they do, and why it may make sense for you, too.
When you are plein air painting/drawing (drawing outside in the open air), lighting and weather conditions are out of your control. You are at the mercy of the environment. It forces you to work quickly, to develop an eye for what the important elements are, and capture those in quick gestures.
En plein air (pronounced [ɑ̃ plɛ. n‿ɛʁ]; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look.
Oil colors are the classic plein air painting medium, the one preferred by artists like Monet and Renoir, and the one most frequently thought of when considering the subject.
The popularity of painting en plein air increased in the 1870s with the introduction of paints in tubes (resembling modern toothpaste tubes). Previously, painters made their own paints by grinding and mixing dry pigment powders with linseed oil, a much more laborious and messy process.
So a group of painters in Paris went off looking for a new form of expression. They began trying to paint the effect of the “light” on an object, or the “air” around an object, rather than the object itself. Since the light and air in the studio didn't change much, they took their painting outdoors.
En plein air is a French expression meaning “in the open air”, and refers to the act of painting outdoors with the artist's subject in full view. Plein air artists capture the spirit and essence of a landscape or subject by incorporating natural light, color and movement into their works.
You may have heard others refer to painting en plein air, which is sometimes pronounced “plain” and sometimes pronounced “plen.” The phrase comes from the French word for “outside.” But enough about pronunciations — what is plein air painting? Simply put: Plein air painting is the same as painting outside.
Plein air painters and studio painters both paint landscapes or any other subject. Plein Air painting offers the artist a better ability to see the light and colors in a scene since they are right there on location.
Many watercolor artists recommend that beginners try to paint en plein air during the late morning to afternoon, from around 11-3. Of course, particular location and seasonal considerations must be made, but try to find a time when the light will be as constant as possible.
To have a successful plein air painting trip it's important that you come prepared and bring the right tools. Today we're going to talk about 10 tools that I always take with me whenever I go on a plein air painting trip. I use Acrylic paints but most of these tools apply no matter what medium you're using.
The answer is simple: no painting done from a photo can ever compare to the energy, immediacy, and sense of place that can come through in a plein air piece. Somehow the feel of the day, be it heat or cold or wind or just a perfectly pleasant morning, makes its way down the arm and off the brush and onto the canvas.
Established by the Barbizon School and made accessible by the paint tube, painting en plein air is most closely associated with the Impressionists who popularised the technique. Impressionism is defined by quick and obvious brushstrokes used to depict landscapes and everyday life scenes as subjects.
You can let shapes flow more freely into each other(with watercolor) and experiment with various techniques, ways to make a mark, (dry-brush, wax, guache from the tube, drizzled guache(!), scratching, spritzing, flicking water, bold gestural strokes, etc.) Plein air is a good place to experiment and take risks.
plein-air painting, in its strictest sense, the practice of painting landscape pictures out-of-doors; more loosely, the achievement of an intense impression of the open air (French: plein air) in a landscape painting.
The practice of en plein air painting was popularised by the Impressionists who chose to confront nature directly by producing completed paintings outdoors. This practice was fundamental to their art as they sought to capture the transitory effects of light.
While there is some overlap between plein-air and urban sketching, the former tends to focus on the aesthetic outcome of the finished piece, whereas the latter's primary goal is on storytelling, witnessing, and recording, using any medium, indoors and out.
Address: 998 Estell Village, Lake Oscarberg, SD 48713-6877
Phone: +21813267449721
Job: Technology Engineer
Hobby: Swimming, Do it yourself, Beekeeping, Lapidary, Cosplaying, Hiking, Graffiti
Introduction: My name is Reed Wilderman, I am a faithful, bright, lucky, adventurous, lively, rich, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
