Painting Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 23

I will be painting tomorrow, Wednesday, December 23 overlooking the water behind City Hall in the Grove. I may move over to Scotty's if I have a better view there. This is one of the paintings I did there last year.

En Plein Air Painting

What is En Plein Air painting?

En Plein Air painting is open air painting, or painting live on location.

As a painter, I have a choice of painting from direct observation (still life, en plein air, figure drawing, etc.), from photograph, or from imagination. A vast majority of my work is created from observation or photograph. Unless commissioned, I only work from my own photographs. One of my goals is to create a majority of my work from direct observation. Sometimes I will paint storms, sunsets or animals and working from photograph is necessary. Also, large paintings and difficult terrain will force me to work from photograph. In most other cases I prefer painting in front of my subject matter.

En Plein Air painting gives my work certain qualities that are lost when working strictly from photographs. The main quality lost is spontaneity. Given the duration of time I have to paint from life, because of the movement of the sunlight and shadows, I am forced to make decisions that are more instinctual. These decisions are what make gives my work its personality. I then try to take what I have learned about my own painterly instincts and apply that to my larger, in-studio pieces. I don't believe my best in-studio pieces would be the same without all the hard work I do in the field working en plein air.

Other qualities lost when working from photography are the vibrancy of the colors and perspective. No printer can produce the range and vibrancy of colors that the human eye can produce. My best chance of getting the colors true to life is to paint from direct observation. Also, it is easier to determine the depth at which objects sit in a landscape through the use of your own two eyes. Photographs are 2-dimensional surfaces and determining depth within them is often a guessing game. As well, the shape of a photographic lens can distort the edges of an image, altering proper perspective.

En Plein Air painting is a vital part of my work as an artist. Because of this, I have created exhibits dedicated to this form of painting. This February, I will be exhibiting a new series of En Plein Air paintings in a solo show titled Coconut Grove 24/7x11. The exhibit will be held on Friday, February 5, 2010. Exact details of the opening will be released shortly.

I have created this blog so you can follow the creation of these paintings. Keep visiting to see where I have been and where I plan on going and get a sneak preview of my paintings before they reach the gallery or art festival.