OutdoorPainter

Inspired by Southeast Asia, Bob Masla explores watercolor, Sumi-e, and Notan studies that reveal the strength of values, brushwork, and design.

Combining gouache and oil might sound unlikely, but the two can form a powerful partnership when handled correctly. Raymond Bonilla treats gouache like a painter’s utility knife: a fast, forgiving tool to build a value and temperature map. The result is a workflow that speeds decision making, reduces solvent use, and gives the finished piece both vibrancy and painterly texture.

With it being the heart of winter and unpredictable weather, it's the perfect time to cozy up with a cup of coffee and get out your sketchbook, favorite drawing utensil, and a timer.

In “U Wrót Chałubińskiego,” Leon Wyczółkowski places us at the threshold of the sublime. Painted en plein air at the Chałubiński Gate, a mountain pass in the Tatra Mountains, the pastel captures a fleeting moment of clouds, light, and shadow that evokes both awe and intimacy.

Making art is a revelatory experience that requires wrestling with principles and practices involved in painting a canvas which reveals the quality of expression that comes as the hard-won physical product of who we are as human beings known as artists. So, what do we gain as artists who use AI, and what are we willing to lose?

This issue features the 2026 Artists' Guide to Workshops, Schools, and Ateliers; National Park Service Art Collections; Immigrant Stories; and ...

Master Artist Debra Joy Groesser has revealed her selections for the December 2025 PleinAir Salon art competition. They are ...

In Episode 268 of the Plein Air Podcast, we talk about making 2026 your best year yet — not by accident, but by design. As an artist, you face the familiar tug-of-war between studio time, family, and the distractions that eat your hours. Over the years I learned that goals are not about wishful thinking. They are systems, habits, deadlines, and sometimes a little bit of bravado. This episode is a practical, no-nonsense plan to set goals that actually stick and push your art and life forward.

Ryan Jensen fills 9-foot paintings with landscapes done on location. Here are the challenges, how and why he does it, and how being a Marine has informed his path as a professional artist.

On Making the Switch From Watercolor to Pastel Painting > Jill Stefani Wagner, who is on the faculty of the 2026 Plein Air Convention ...