What does En Plein Air mean?

Dear Art Lover,

I frequently get asked the question, what does “plein air” mean?  Any of my pieces titled “Plein Air,…” indicate that that piece was made outside, from life, as opposed to indoors, in the studio, from memory, photo, or other reference.

As someone who has, in the past, worked extensively from photo reference (painting while looking at a photograph of a subject, an atmosphere, etc), I have nothing against that process.  In fact, working from photo reference years ago was a useful transitional exercise, especially as I decided to more frequently take my watercolor landscape painting practice outside.

Working En Plein Air, a French term, literally meaning “in the open air”, is more challenging, and less comfortable than working in the studio, and comes with different advantages.  I used to enjoy working from photo reference, the stability the image provided, but the paintings would not feel as much landscapes to me as copies of landscape photographs (which they were).  Something about the light was never as accurate as the light I could experience outside.

Outside, in the natural light of the day or night, I can see the colors I want to paint precisely.  I do not invent, exaggerate, or otherwise change what I see when I practice plein air painting; I am trying to accurately reflect the optical environment I find around me.  Other than seeing colors as they are, another advantage to being outside is also my plein air practice’s greatest challenge - the rapid passing of time, the mutability of light and atmosphere.

“How long does it take you to make these paintings outside?” Is a typical followup question to asks about Plein Air.  It depends.  Several years ago, a finished plein air watercolor painting would take me at least two to three hours.  I would try to paint at times of day of slow light change (say, 10am-2pm), usually on sunny days, and would often finish the works using photo reference in the studio.  What I’d miss out on was some of the exciting weather that would last minutes rather than hours, and inevitably the work augmented with photo reference came off a bit flat, a bit non-spontaneous.  Typically the titles of my paintings tell you how long I spent on them.  “Plein air… 3-4pm” likely took one hour, from 3 to 4pm.

After really picking up the frequency of my plein air practice since moving back to Seattle, Fall of 2021, I’ve been able to get a finished, 30 x 42” painting done in 30 minutes, at the fastest.  Typically I’ll take an hour, and sometimes work on a few details up to about two hours at the most.  I’m not rushing - I’ve just become faster while working, in an absolute sense.  Of course, time isn’t absolute, it’s relative: I feel time slow down, the sky change more slowly, the faster and more intensely I work.  Not every painting “comes off”, but I enjoy the practice of trying again and again and again, year-round.

As 2024 begins, I’ll be using these emails to share thoughts about art and art practice, but the best inspirations are the questions I’m asked.  If you have a question, or want to reach out for any reason, feel free to reply to this email or send a new thread to david@DavidOSmithArtist.com

Cheers and Happy 2024,

David