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Discover the latest art news from the world of plein air painting, including recent winners, upcoming art events, art competition deadlines, and more!

Quick Draw in Cody, WY

The Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale in Cody, Wyoming (September 21-22, 2012), included a quick draw competition for 30 sculptors and painters. The...

19th-Century Plein Air Fashions

It's amusing to compare today's practical, comfortable plein air painting outfits with those worn by artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Clearly,...

Your Chance to Own a Sorolla Masterpiece

Do you have $4 million available to buy one of the few Sorolla masterpieces to come on the market in recent years? Then head...
Plein Air Magazine

Lifetime Achievement Awards Presented

During the Plein Air Convention & Expo, two artists received special recognition for their remarkable careers and their efforts to advance the cause of...

Florida Artist Sees Stars, Paints Them

Florida artist Stephen Bach discovered that a seemingly routine part of his painting proved challenging: the depiction of small, twinkling stars in the night...

Plein Air Artists Colorado Award Prizes

William Scott Jennings was the juror for the Plein Air Artists Colorado (PAAC) 17th Annual National Juried Exhibition, which opened August 10 at Abend...

OPPORTUNITY: OPA Paint-Out in North Carolina

Oil Painters of America is sponsoring a paint-out in Salisbury, North Carolina, next week.  Artist Beth Barger teaches a young student...

Taking Plein Air by Storm

Bruce Gómez has been painting for decades, but he only started painting outdoors about three years ago ... and immediately started winning awards. ...

Capturing the Creepy

Folks who saw Thomas Van Stein's painting of the stairs that feature prominently in the film "The Exorcist" on Facebook might not realize that...

Sixty Artists, 16 Awards, Perfect Weather in Fort Myers

In the fifth year for Paint the Beach, 60 painters converged on the Florida town of Fort Myers to divvy up 16 awards. Who...

Pay to Play? Shorewood Event Organizer Explains

The change in structure for the Shorewood Plein Air event in Wisconsin has some artists upset. Comments online refer to it as a "pay...

Plane Air

To make authentic-looking paintings of planes, an artist has to show them flying. So how are you going to paint from life? North Carolina...

Spotlight on PACE Faculty: Dave Santillanes

You can take the artist out of the great outdoors, but you can’t take the plein air approach out of the painter. Case in...

Gary Haynes on Judging the PleinAir Salon, and What It Does for Artists

There are many reasons to enter an art competition such as the PleinAir Salon—for instance, it forces you to analyze your work, it signifies...

OPPORTUNITY: Frank Bette Event in SF

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - The entry deadline is April 30 for the 2016 Frank Bette Plein Air Paint Out, scheduled for...

My Favorite Place to Paint: Ed Cahill

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - The place Ed Cahill often paints is a reminder of what the land around Atlanta was like...

Why This Works: Solid Tree in Foreground Offers Entry and Rest

- Jeanne Mackenzie reporting - In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and...

When an Artist Can Paint the Past, Today

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - For three days, artists at a living museum in New Brunswick, Canada, painted scenes from life in...

OPPORTUNITY: Carmel in May

The deadline to apply for the Carmel Art Festival in California is fast approaching.

Paint Like an Old Master? Look Like an Old Master

Two artists participating in the EnPleinAirTEXAS event dressed in period costume while painting the view at Fort Concho in San Angelo, Texas.