En plein air is a French phrase that is roughly interpreted by artists everywhere to mean ‘painting outdoors on location’. Artists have been painting en plein air for as long as artists have been artists. My plein air experience began in the early 1970s and continued off and on for many years. Then in the fall of 2017 I participated in my first plein air competition and now I look for every opportunity to paint en plein air, either on my own or with a group.
To that end I became a member of the Ohio Plein Air Society and several other arts organizations that sponsor plein air competitions and casual paint outs—Cliffside Artists Collaborative, Peninsula Arts Academy, Dublin Area Art League, Akron Society of Artists and the Western Reserve Plein Air Society to name a few.
Plein air painting is challenging because of the outdoor conditions that we have no control over. And that’s what makes it fun. Besides bugs and leaves that sometimes land on and become a part of your artwork, the wind can be a problem, especially for a watercolorist because the paint’s drying time will vary. Drying time also varies based on the humidity (and with raindrops of course). Outdoor light can be intense and tend to distort an artist’s judgement of light, dark and medium values (shading) in the painting.
Jessie still had no comment about the finished painting. The cows and horses kept to themselves all day.
Also there will be the occasional passerby who has a suggestion or two for the artist. Jessie here had very little to say about the progress of this painting. She just wanted me to pick up her stick and throw it, again.
The Peninsula Art Academy event that renewed my interest in plein air painting was held in September 2017. Over the three day competition I made six paintings. ‘Beside the Covered Bridge’, one of my three paintings that were a part of the show competition, was awarded an Honorable Mention.
Another painting completed during the Peninsula competition was a view of the Jaite Colony in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park where my view was occasionally interrupted by the passing trains of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. It’s all part of the fun of plein air painting.
While the weather was perfect for the Peninsula paint out last September, in February 2018 OPAS held an informal paint out at Malabar Farm on a day when the temperature reached a high of 26 degrees. On days like that a watercolorist needs to use something other than water as a medium. I chose rum which created some unexpected special effects in the middle-ground trees. When painting a watercolor you need to go with the flow, whether it’s the flow of water or alcohol. This picture shows the painting in its early stages—before my fingers were frozen stiff.
After ducking into the warmth of my car a couple of times, below is the finished painting of Malabar farm. No alcohol was wasted that day, as it was later consumed at home, for warming purposes only.
Another plein air painting day that was colder than it should have been, for April 28 anyway, was the day of this year’s Dublin Area Art League competition. Temperatures were in the 30s with a wind factor that added a little challenge for a springtime paint out.
My goal was to submit two paintings for jurying before the 3:00 deadline. After finishing and framing a fairly large 15×21 painting of the Dublin Village Tavern before 2:00, I hurriedly painted and framed an 11×15 quickie of a subject that had caught my attention. Historic Dublin is full of interesting stone wall fences, and one of them had a rickety old gate hanging from it. I was able to capture the scene in about 45 minutes, frame it and submit it by the deadline.
‘Dublin Village Tavern’ received a Special Award, between First Place and Best of Show, by the juror and Blick Art Materials. Note the Ohio springtime plein air clothing.
Limestone wall with gate, painted in 45 minutes.
Some years ago I was painting en plein air on both the east coast and the west coast. The painting on the easel perched on a rocky Maine coast is one of many that were sold through the Camden Falls Gallery, Camden Maine.
And as evidenced by that somewhat younger, trimmer artist standing beside a promotional poster of a solo show, several of my California plein air paintings have sold and continue to sell through a successful seventeen year relationship with The Watercolor Gallery at Laguna Beach.
In May of this year ‘Everett Rd Covered Bridge’ was selected to be part of the Best of the Ohio Plein Air Society II exhibition at Group Ten Gallery in Kent and it was the featured artwork in the Akron Beacon Journal’s review of the show.
Also in May, The Peninsula Plein Air Spring 2018 competition entitled Beauty in Bloom, was held in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I completed these three paintings during the three day competition, often interrupted by thunderstorms. I painted Everett Bridge again but this time it was the east side early in the morning and it was a warm spring day and not the cold winter scene of the earlier painting.
SECOND PLACE, Peninsula Plein Air Competition, June 2018
“Lock 29 and the Cuyahoga River, 10×14 watercolor
“Everett Bridge” and “Horseshoe Pond” were also accepted into the Peninsula show.
Plein Air Painting Gallery
Limestone Wall with Gate
Old Mill, Milford
Award of Excellence Ohio Plein Air Society
Beside the Covered Bridge 11×14
Everett Bridge, Spring 14×10 P-A
It’s Yellow
English Cottage 20×14
Becca’s Chairs 11×15
Everett Rd Bridge 14×21
Farm Shed, northeast view 14×21
Farm Shed, East view 14×21
Chris Craft, Ink 7×9
E Dock 11×14
Fishing Boats, Ink 11×14
At the Bike Rack, Ink 5×12
Towne Hall Antiques 14×20
Victorian on Broad Street
First Place Cuyahoga Valley Art Center
Weaver Cottage 11×14
Carriage Hill Tudor 14×21
Malabar Farm 11×14
Dussel Barn
Horseshoe Pond, Spring 10×14 P-A
Dussel Vegetable Stand
995 Field in sunlight 10×14 P-A
VW Type 2
Be sure to also check out my Fine Arts, Drawings and Architectural Illustrations galleries.