FarmArt.org

PLEIN AIR PAINTING

Plein Air Painting means what it sounds like it means - painting out in the plain air.

Historically, it became popular after the inventions of tubes to contain paints, so the paints could be carried out into the fields. Also of importance was the folding easel.

The current resurgence of interest in plein air painting has developed some rules: since the sun’s location constantly moves the light is so different in 2 or 3 hours that a fast finish has become important. That speed often creates paintings that capture the forms of the landscape and the feel of the light’s warmth or brightness or dullness - a compelling moment in time, usually without much detail. Purists ask that the painting be finished 80% to 90% in the field.

(Editor’s Note: To see Barbara’s Plein Air work, visit www.barbarabeaudreau.com  OR keep reading…)

Artists have been painting out of doors for many years before these rules became the norm. If the painting was large it often required returning to the same location over several days. If the weather changed or the artist’s intention was to create a more finished view the painting might be finished in the studio. The field painting was often considered a study, using it as a reference for the studio work.

I am one of those artists who view painting out of doors to be the most vital beginning for a painting. It is there that the vividness lives that charges one’s work with life. Whether that aliveness is expressed in a few hours or many is not important to me. What is important is that the painting convey something essential that I saw and felt, so the viewer can share that moment in time with me.

by BARBARA BEAUDREAU