Sunday, December 5, 2010

Painting Plein Air

I just read an interesting article in the Huffington Post on painting plein air.    I enjoy painting outside but am not a hard core plein air painter.  One of my galleries, the Santa Ysabel Gallery in San Diego County, California, insists that the work for the annual plein air exhibition be 100% plein air.  I honor the gallery owner's  commitment to the plein air tradition and I paint by the rules for the annual show.  My work for the Sedona Plein Air Festival is also 100% plein air, but when I'm painting plein air for me, I'm not opposed to tweaking paintings in the studio with a bit of light here or a darker brush stroke there.   I sit my outdoor studies on the studio mantle for a day or two until I know if they are finished or if they need a 'tweak'.  Yellow Umbrellas - Uptown Sedona, is one of my favorite 100% plein air paintings.

My artist friend, Susan Faust (her website is down for a few hours this morning...try the link later) uses plein air painting to gather information, seldom finishing her outdoor studies.  Instead she uses them for larger studio pieces.  She is painting on location today with  Michael Chesley Johnson and Michael Coleman and asked if I'd like to go but I declined.  In early December, I much prefer a warm studio.  


Yellow Umbrellas - Uptown Sedona



1 comment: