Landscape Painting: Plein Air Painting
By Hester Berry
Plein Air painting is the practice of painting outside, normally in front of one’s subject. Artists have always made studies and drawings of and within nature, as an aide memoire for work created in the studio. Time spent experiencing, observing, processing and recording all adds to the authenticity of a piece created in the studio. But the distance between subject and painting is reduced further when the finished work is created outside. This is to say that the ‘experience’ is still with the painter, and so can be instantly recalled, as well as the visual information, so less of the essence of the subject is lost to memory.
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Sheila C
April 8, 2017 @ 8:25 am
Another absolutley generous, informative, beautiful and inspiring post! I love the idea of having a dedicated backpack and going out there in nature to paint. Thank you Hester!
Samantha Barnes
May 18, 2017 @ 4:58 pm
This is a gorgeous post, thank you so much Hester. I’m far too lazy to get outside painting done but after reading your post I’m much more confident to try it.
Thanks again Samantha
Sheila, AccessArt
May 19, 2017 @ 10:41 am
Hi Samantha – keep your eye out for Hester’s ‘upload for comment weekend’ – we’ll be inviting Hester to comment on drawings or paintings uploaded to a specific page soon – so watch this space! In the mean time great that you feel inspired to get out and paint! Me too after Hester’s posts!
Morag Thomson Merriman
June 14, 2017 @ 10:06 pm
Have really enjoyed reading this beautiful post – it has made me realise how much I miss drawing & painting outdoors. Thank you Hester for such an inspirational post! I agree, sometimes you really do need to embrace nature’s unexpected moments and allow these to become part of your work as it’s a true record of your experience that day. I remember vividly one day years ago painting in the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, quite happily working on a watercolour of the trees and paths ahead of me, when suddenly a grey squirrel appeared, jumped up onto my board (which was on my lap), landed in my watercolour paint box and proceeded to run across my watercolour painting leaving behind a trail of colourful footprints on the paper! So now, every time I see that painting hanging in my mum’s living room, with its squiggly line of footprints across the sky (which actually looks like leaves being blown about), I think of that squirrel with love and laughter :).
Sheila, AccessArt
June 15, 2017 @ 10:42 am
What a stunning story! Thank you for sharing Morag.
We’d love to see that painting!
xx
Frances D
October 18, 2017 @ 7:07 pm
I thoroughly enyoyed reading your guide. I spend far too much time working in oils from my own photographs and this has prompted me to give the great outdoors another chance. Living in North Cornwall, the weather is always a challenge, but armed with your excellent advice I might well succeed. Many thanks.