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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!

OPPORTUNITY: Painting Schooners This Weekend

The Connecticut Schooner Festival offers New England painters the chance to depict majestic ships this week.  This schooner, Mystic, will be...

How the American Masters Painted the Landscape

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis is presenting a landscape show that illuminates how past American masters painted...

Easton Conjures up a Pearl of a Winter Plein Air Event

Easton, Maryland, a spot well known to plein air painters thanks to its hugely successful Plein Air Easton! event, is involving local businesses, land...

Do You Want a List of 2015’s Plein Air Events to Help You Plan?

With plein air painting's increasing popularity, it's easy to overlook an event in your area or in a place you plan to visit in...

Who Made the Cut in the Latest PleinAir Salon Contest?

A great mix of noted artists and up-and-coming painters fill the roster of winners for the October-November contest of the PleinAir Salon. Now 15...

OPPORTUNITY: Painting in Bermuda in November

If Bermuda in November sounds good, start making plans now to attend Bermuda Plein Air Festival. Here's the scoop.  Registration isn't...

Urban Sketchers: Focus on People

Angie Hauch of Urban Sketchers Chicago used her skills as an animator to help artists become more comfortable with sketching the bustling people of...

OPPORTUNITY: Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, in September

One of the country’s most impressive spots deserves an impressive plein air event, and it has one. Artists interested in participating in the 8th...

Handy Guide Helps You Sketch in Right Proportions

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - Kentucky artist Kathleen B. Hudson finds that preliminary sketches really help with her final paintings, but she...

OPPORTUNITY: Pacific Northwest Plein Air, in WA

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - The Columbia River Gorge straddles the state line between Oregon and Washington. Paint in this beautiful area...

Why This Works: A Sense of Space

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

OPPORTUNITY: Paint Ulysses S. Grant’s Cottage in Wilton, NY

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - North of Albany, New York, is the cottage where President Ulysses S. Grant passed his final days....

Parting Shot: Would You, Could You, on One Wheel?

- Bob Bahr reporting, Editor PleinAir Today - Plein air painters love a challenge. Some don’t know where to stop. James Gurney never stops —...

Plein Air, Inside Out

Patrick Saunders is very accustomed to painting outside, and he loves natural light. But he and his wife, Kimberly, live in an Airstream. So how does he handle the commissions that he likes to take? Inside out.
art competition

Winning an Art Competition Requires This

Artist and art industry veteran Terry Stanley explains that winning a competition hinges on doing one thing right at the onset: see what it is to increase your odds.

OPPORTUNITY: Head to the Indiana Dunes

An artist in residency at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore gives painters a chance to work along Lake Michigan in July or August for two weeks.

OPPORTUNITY: Long Beach Island, in September

The Long Beach Island Foundation in New Jersey hosts an annual competition with a nice twist. They call it Plein Air Plus.

My Favorite Place to Paint: Peggy Immel and the Rio Grande

Created by presidential proclamation in March 2013, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico features 10,000-foot mountains, high deserts, and a breathtaking gorge that — in some places — reaches a depth of 800 feet. Sound like plein air perfection? For Peggy Immel, it sure is.

My Favorite Place to Paint: Poppy and Point Prim

Lighthouses are such wonderful subjects, aren’t they? They project into the sky with brilliant designs from sandy and rocky shores and are beacons of hope for weary sailors. For accomplished outdoor painter Poppy Balser, there will always be a special place in her heart for Point Prim. Discover why here.

Capturing Cedarburg

Beautiful Ozaukee County hosted 150 artists from around the country between June 6 and June 13 for the popular Cedarburg Plein Air Painting Competition. Who captured awards?