‘Plein air’ is a French term used by painters to describe painting done outside on location instead of in the studio. There were, and still are, many painters who prefer to work outdoors claiming that the color of natural light is often more inspiring that that of indoor light. Other artists tend to never venture outside to paint, relying on sketches or photographs brought back to the studio. As an artist, I have done both; but, quite frankly, I prefer to work indoors using onsite sketches with numerous photographs as research for my material source. I find the constant change of light and varying weather conditions (as well as the oft interested visitor) of the outdoors are too much of a distraction for me when I am painting.
Seldom do I ever recreate a scene as it exists anyway. Reproducing a photograph is not my idea of creating art – a photographer does a much better job. I enjoy moving subjects around in a composition, often changing colors, deleting objects or adding objects that never existed in the original scene, to create a more interesting composition. Working in the studio from numerous references allows me to do this without being tied to the original subject material.
Technique is also a determining factor of plein air or not. My painting technique is such that I need the controlled conditions of the studio with consistent light and the ability to control drying time. I also enjoy being able to control the flow of my paint by easily controlling the slant of my board.
I would be interested in hearing others’ views on this.
