Editorial

“As artists, it is our responsibility to show up and do the work, creating our best work with minimal concern on how others view our work.”

Mary Longe explains why you should consider a competitive plein air event, including the various types, common elements, and what not to do.

As an artist, what role can you play in the conservation and preservation of land, cultures, and buildings?

"I always wondered why artists painted a series when there were tens of thousands of themes one could explore - until ..."

"Why do artists do it?” asks painter Russell Jewel. “Why do we bare our souls to the public and risk one person’s opinion?” His words capture the tension every artist feels when entering a juried event — the balance between vulnerability and ambition. But what makes a painting rise above the rest? What qualities make a viewer stop, linger, and fall in love? We turned to some of the art world’s most experienced judges, collectors, and curators to find out.

In this art critique session on Art School Live, Eric Rhoads shares practical painting advice: learn about composition grids, value checks, S‑curve flow, and small edits that boost contrast, depth, and focal impact—plus a Van Gogh study.

It's a good time to clear the air on some etiquette involved with making master copies in art museums, as well as related issues. Learning by doing and seeing how others do it has always been a great way to gain practical knowledge, but ...

This special collector edition of PleinAir Magazine is an invitation to explore American landscapes through the eyes of the artists who have painted them, loved them, questioned them, and helped define them.

The following is part of a series that spotlights an artist who loves painting outdoors. Today's feature is on Lyudmila Tomova Clark, who is inspired by the grit - and in this case, kind and quick consideration - of fishermen.

Ellen Howard was an invited artist and VIP at this year's Desert Plein Air Competition. Here, she shares her inspiration for the two paintings she entered, and her gratitude for the plein air community.

After painting with watercolor for two decades, Marc Grandbois shares why acrylic painting fills his needs for painting on location, and how it's the "perfect bridge."

Marlene Steele's plein air paintings document the renovation of the historic Cincinnati Union Terminal and celebrate traditional trades in the revitalization of the Art Deco train station now known as the Cincinnati Museum Center.

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

With it being in the heart of winter and in the midst of 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.

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 ...

In this art snippet, Raj Chaudhuri, who has been on the faculty of the Plein Air Convention & Expo, shares his inspiration for plein air painting, specifically in India, where he grew up. He now travels the world teaching and painting.

Winter landscape paintings captivate us with their serene beauty, transforming the familiar into scenes of quiet wonder.

One of the greatest benefits of this community is the connection it fosters — artists from all over the world engaging with one another, often through something as simple as a comment on a blog or social media post.

I took the painting as far as I could on location, then I packed up my gear and loaded it into the trunk of my car...