10 Things you NEED to know before Plein Air Painting

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10 Things you NEED to know before Plein Air Painting

1 ) The great outdoors smells
When you prepare to go on your first Plein air adventure the last thing you'll remember is that outside kind of stinks. If you plan on painting a scene where land meets water, you will most definitely notice the smell of fish and water. If you are painting an urban scene you may not notice as much smell. Ultimately the smell of your scene won't ruin your painting but it is not unnoticeable.


2) You WILL forget something
Even if you pride yourself on being on top of your stuff, you will ultimately forget to bring something. Don't be worried, this is just a part of Plein air, making use of what you have to make a beautiful painting. If you at least have paint and brushes, you'll be fine.
3) You'll forget how to paint
This one may seem a bit odd, but trust me. When you finally get outside to paint, you may have trouble just getting started. Finding an approach to how you will paint what you are seeing can be quite difficult. This is simply because painting from reference and painting from life are different skills. Reference photos provide a two-dimensional view that is more easily replicated in a painting. When using life as a reference, you are now trying to take a three-dimensional view and translate it into a two-dimensional painting. My advice is to just keep at it, you'll get better every time you try.


4) People LOVE to stop and talk
After my first time painting out in public, I was shocked by the fact that people were interested enough to ask what I was doing and have a quick talk. If you're not in the mood for a conversation, I'd say to pick spots and times when no one is out. Very early mornings seem to be not too busy.
5) Finding a Subject is harder than it sounds
As an artist who primarily paints from reference photos, only after painting Plein air did I realize how spoiled I was. When you look for references, the only limitation is copyright. When you paint Plein air, you only have what is around you. The good thing is that these sorts of limitations force you to be creative and make interesting compositions out of your surroundings.
6) There's lots of watching paint dry
Depending on your weather conditions and what medium you paint with you could be spending most of your time watching your paint dry. Watercolor and humid climates lead to a long drying process. If you can, try to work on dry warm days. 
7) Light changes SO quickly
This is pretty self-explanatory. When you get out and paint, you may find a perfect composition with great shadows and perfect lighting, but in the span of 30-45 minutes, you will be looking at a totally different scene. My best advice is to act quickly and take pictures. If you can, put in the big value statements first and go into the details later.
8) Snacks are necessary 
Simple enough, you're going to want to bring something to eat. A quick 20-minute loose painting can very easily turn into a 2-hour long full painting. 
9) Drawing from life is 10x more difficult
Building off of number three, drawing from life is more difficult than drawing from a reference. When you are drawing from a reference in the comfort of your own home there is often no time constraint or hot sun or anything that would make the process a bit more uncomfortable. Outdoors sketching forces you to work around all of these constraints and only sketch what is really necessary for a successful painting.

10) Some places are unreachable
Lastly, even if you are able to find the perfect thing to paint outdoors, sometimes it is just out of reach. Whether it is hidden behind a clump of trees or in a shady-looking alley, sometimes what you want to paint is close but not close enough. This is just one of the many obstacles that make Plein air painting as challenging and rewarding as it is. 

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