Home Tips for Artists

Tips for Artists

From color to composition, to dealing with the elements, learn from the community of plein air painters with these tips for painting outdoors!

Why This Works: Modeling the Forms of Branches

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

Step-by-Step: How to Paint a Nude Figure en Plein Air

Expert artist Patricia Watwood, who is classically trained, shares a step-by-step demo of how to paint a figure en plein air.
Miniature pochade - OutdoorPainter.com

The Smallest Pochade?

Just for fun! This Etsy product (already sold) shows how far one can go to make painting materials compact and portable.

What’s in My Bag?

When flying with art supplies, make sure you arrive with everything you need. Get the top five preparedness tips here.
How to paint landscapes - Nancie King Mertz

Free Preview! Learn How to Paint Urban Scenes in Pastel

In this preview of “Urban Pastel Paintings,” Nancie King Mertz shows us how she approaches cityscapes. See why she says you can use the same approach with both oil and pastel paintings (and why she has become a devotee of pastel).
How to paint landscapes - Joseph McGurl - OutdoorPainter.com

How Joseph McGurl Paints a Landscape in Oil

Preview Joseph McGurl’s newest art video workshop in this exclusive announcement on how to paint better landscapes.
How to use a proportional wheel - OutdoorPainter.com

What Is a Proportional Wheel?

For artists, a proportional wheel is (or should be) an indispensable tool. See why in this guest blog post from John Pototschnik.
Artist Joseph McGurl painting en plein air

How Joseph McGurl Uses Sight-Size Drawing

Stop Fussing, Start Painting! Joseph McGurl champions the sight-size method, which allows him to spend less time drawing and more time painting; here's how.
Eric Rhoads with Michael Holter

Bring on the Backlight

In this episode of Art School Live, Eric Rhoads welcomes Michael Holter to the show! Michael is on the faculty of the 2nd Annual Watercolor Live virtual art conference; in this interview he demos a stunning backlit landscape.
Peggy Immel, "Spring Willows," 2019, oil, 9x 12 in., Collection the artist, Plein air

Landscape Painting Tutorial: Plotting Points of Interest

Plein air painter Peggy Immel takes us through a step-by-step landscape painting tutorial on how she created "Spring Willows."

Why This Works: Careful Placement of Vibrant Accent

This series returns, with plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie taking a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and pointing out why...
Plein air watercolor how-to

Not Idle in Winter: Stewart White and Plein Air Watercolor

On plein air watercolor > Baltimore painter and PleinAir Salon Grand Prize winner Stewart White tells us what he does in the winter to keep...
Annamarie Trombetta on the New York City local cable show

The Value of 28 Minutes on TV (and YouTube)

New York City artist Annamarie Trombetta was recently featured on local cable TV, and the painter says she feels this is part of a...

Why This Works: Correct Values in Clouds

In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and points out why they...

The Llama Syndicate

Most artists have their unique ways for going about their business. Colorado artist Michael Charron has a few notable ones involving llamas, a syndication system for selling paintings, and underdrawings with spiritual symbols and cursive writing.

Why This Works: A Story of Scale, and Rays Stealing the Show

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

Why This Works: Monochromatic Look Evokes Atmosphere

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

Why This Works: Not Every Branch, Twig, and Leaf

In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and points out why they succeed as painted images. This week, Kathryn A. McMahon’s “Beaverdams Pond.”
Painting landscapes - OutdoorPainter.com

Painting Landscapes: Paint Exactly What You See

In recent years, top plein air painters have been using painting procedures associated with academic studio painting. Painters like Marc Dalessio, Joseph McGurl, and Matt Chinian all frame their landscape subjects inside a rigid viewer, then paint exactly what they see inside that rectangle. Find out why. 
Plein Air Magazine

5 Ways to Get Your Art Published

If you want to get your art published and seen around the world, do any (or all) of these suggestions from your team at PleinAir Magazine!
  1. Plein Air Podcast 243: Paul Kratter on Painting Trees and More