Artist Profiles

Learn about what projects your fellow plein artists are up to, see online galleries of their landscape paintings, and more in these profiles!

Painting the landscape - Shelby Keefe - OutdoorPainter.com

Spotlight on Plein Air Painter Shelby Keefe

Shelby Keefe shares her inspiration for painting the landscape in this recent interview.
Plein air oil paintings by Huihan Liu - OutdoorPainter.com

Spotlight on Oil Painter Huihan Liu

Represented by Total Arts Gallery, Chinese artist Huihan Liu creates painterly works when plein air is “difficult, if not impossible.”
Plein air oil paintings - Suzie Baker - OutdoorPainter.com

Spotlight on the Oil Paintings of Suzie Baker

Take a closer look at her plein air oil painting, “A Negative View of Saloons.”
The Waterfall painting by Corot

Too Old for Impressionism?

This historic French artist tried to infuse his paintings with a vigorous ...
plein air artist

Are Your Colors Too Hot?

Primarily known as a painter of big game, Carl Rungius earned himself a revered position in the canon of plein air painting for his fidelity to ...
Plein air watercolor - OutdoorPainter.com

The Risks & Rewards of Foreign Plein Air Painting

Over the past 25 years, David E. Dallison has taken his portable watercolor equipment to more than 35 countries, sometimes ignoring travel warnings and political unrest. He is now being a bit more cautious since he is traveling with his young family. Here’s how he works with watercolors in distant locations. 
Olena Babak painting on location in Rocky Mountain National Park

Painting On Location: In Service of the Heart

Imbuing her work with the lessons of art history, this Maine oil painter takes advantage of amassed techniques and skills to stay in the moment and express her feelings about a scene.
plein air watercolor painting of houses

Better With Time

Elements of wear and tear in Mat Barber Kennedy’s textural watercolors show signs of life and how we live it.
Woman artist in front of a painting on an easel

Artist Spotlight: Carol Strock Wasson

For Carol Strock Wasson, painting outdoors became a way of life, and she learned successful painting is no accident — its years of learning, painting, and connections with other artists.
artist with her paintings

Artist Spotlight: Cynthia Rosen

How do I find inspiration? Cynthia Rosen: Whether I paint plein air or in my studio inspiration never is difficult to find. My energy may...
plein air paintings by Steve Hill - OutdoorPainter.com

Plein Air Goal: To Paint 1,100 Islands

An artist shares his love (and advice) for painting the Croatian region.

My Favorite Place to Paint: Ria Krishnan

Lily pads, wooded trails, and, most important, trees are all at Ria Krishnan's favorite place to paint, just 10 miles from her home.  ...
Plein air art history - Abbott Handerson Thayer, "Mount Monadnock," 1911/1914, oil on canvas, 22 3/16 x 24 3/16 in., National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Anna E. Clark Fund)

Plein Air Landscapes as a Form of Portraiture

Aiming to stay true to nature, Abbott Handerson Thayer painted scenes en plein air, most often finding inspiration in views of Mount Monadnock, which overlooked his studio.

Painting Amidst a Pitched Battle

R. Gregory Summers knew this painting experience was going to be quite different. But suddenly there were people falling down all around his feet,...
Photo of a female artist painting on a bluff by the ocean

Artist Spotlight: Mary McIntosh

After retirement in the film industry as a Set Decorator for some 42 years on the west coast, Mary was able to return to her first love of drawing and painting.
Larry Cannon, “South Laguna View” created in the Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational, 10 x 14 in., watercolor on paper

Artist Spotlight: Larry Cannon

This PleinAir Live 2021 Faculty artist was exposed to watercolor in college as part of his architectural training and notes specific moments in his early years of painting that changed his life.

My Favorite Place to Paint: Brian Buckrell

Brian Buckrell's favorite place to paint combines the primitive with the comfortable. Shouldn't the best plein air painting spots be just so?  ...

Painting Outdoors with Watercolor AND/OR Oil

Artist Cindy Baron shares how and why she chooses which medium to use at plein air events.

Early Influences: Robert Masla

In this occasional series, we talk to plein air artists about a piece of art that inspired them when they were young. Our first...

Spotlight on PACE Faculty: Jill Stefani Wagner and Psychedelic Pink

Jill Stefani Wagner will tell you how the students teach the teachers and the teachers explore with the students in the drama-free, prima donna-averse atmosphere of the Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE). It’s one of the reasons she loves being on the faculty there.