When Painting on Location, What’s the Big Idea?
In this artist Q&A, Suzie Baker explains her process for painting on location, from "the big idea," to color, to how to assess a finished work.
Artist Spotlight: Carole Belliveau
How did you develop your unique style and why?
Carole Belliveau: I put away my brushes determined to teach myself to use new tools such...
Artist Spotlight: LAUREL DANIEL
How do you find inspiration?
Laurel Daniel: Ever inspired by big skies and dramatic cloud dances, Laurel Daniel’s new work offers further insight into her...
Q&A With Nigerian Artist Edak Young
In a land where plein air painting is an unusual site, this artist is breaking multiple barriers.
Inspiration From India: Plein Air Artist Prafull Sawant
Surrounded by Hindu temples, river banks, old Indian homes, and narrow lanes, this watercolor artist was born to paint en plein air.
How Hip Hop Inspires My Plein Air Painting
San Francisco-based plein air painter Tom Colcord approaches his work with a unique mindset. When asked what he means by “the flow,” he references ...
11 Lessons From a Traveling Painter
Lori Putnam stops for a moment to share what a decade of painting en plein air and away from home 120 days of the year has taught her.
Little by Little
My story starts like most. As a kid I always drew and created, but I was lucky enough to have grown up in a family of artists...
I Love to Paint Flowers Because …
On painting with pastels > “I love to paint flowers simply because I love flowers,” declared the artist Karen Margulis in her disarming simplicity.
Artist Spotlight: Cindy Briggs
How did you develop your unique style?
Cindy Briggs: My style has evolved through various life experiences, travel, workshops, simply painting, and painting more.
From a...
Artist Spotlight: Cecy Turner
What is the best thing about being an artist?
Cecy Turner: One of the best things about being an artist is that you begin to...
Artist Spotlight: Ryan Jensen
“I had been afraid I wouldn’t be able to survive as an artist. I had to make that leap of faith in myself, but I truly believed that if I dedicated the time to painting, I’d somehow be okay.”
Artist Spotlight: Debra Joy Groesser
Debra Joy Groesser is drawn to almost any subject depending on the light, the color and the atmosphere. Many times, she’ll set out on a painting excursion with a specific place in mind only to have something else catch her eye on the way.
On Painting “Logan Street Sunset”
Congratulations to Gavin Glakas, whose oil painting "Logan Street Sunset" won in a recent bi-monthly PleinAir Salon. In this spotlight, Glakas tells about how the Charleston-inspired painting came to be.
Artist Spotlight: Nancie King Mertz
Master & Eminent Pastelist Nancie King Mertz finds that light and shadow are the elements that “take her breath.”
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.
Seeing the Unconventional, on Location
It took an unconventional painting done from a photograph taken at an extreme vantage point to set David Boyd, Jr. on his current path as a plein air painter.
Artist Spotlight: Jessie Rasche
How did you develop your unique style?
Jessie Rasche: I’m teaching a workshop right now on how to find and develop your authentic artistic voice,...
Plein Air Painting Takes Time and Discipline
Drawing on her background as both a dancer and a graduate of an exacting atelier, this Ohio artist embraces the immediacy of plein air painting along with the rewards of working more slowly and in a considered manner.
How I Create Flowing, Organic Lines with Watercolor
Inspiration from Cindy Briggs.