Is Plein air Painting that different than using a picture

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https://unsplash.com/photos/XyFS-DeUxkg


I started painting plein air two years ago, but prior to that, I had only painted from pictures and occasionally from still life setups. And in my mind, I thought that painting from life and using a reference were essentially the same thing. I figured "A camera is going to see the same thing that my eye can see, so what's the difference?" Now that I have been painting plein air pretty regularly, I can certainly say that painting from life and painting from a reference are different experiences. In this article I am going to go over some of what makes plein air different than using picture references and hopefully inspire you to try and get out in nature.

Focal Lengths 

The first reason that painting from a picture and painting from life will give you different results is because your eye has a different focal length than your camera. If you are into photography you'll know what I'm talking about, but if not that's okay, I'll give a super basic rundown. The focal length of a camera lens tells you how much of a scene you will be able to see in an image. For example a lens with a focal length of 10 mm will have a wider field of view than a lens with a focal length of 135 mm. But by allowing more to be seen, there is often a certain degree of warping and distortion (depending on how close the subject is). The human eye has a focal length of approximately 22mm, the average smartphone has a focal length of anywhere from 20-200mm. This means that what your eyes see will not be the exact same as what a camera will see. (Albeit the difference may not even be noticeable.)

Color Representation

I don't have any stats for this one, so you'll just have to trust me, but when you are out on location, the world is much more colorful than when you take a picture. This can be for a number of reasons. Whether it be because the light washed out the color or just because humans are more sensitive to color changes than cameras are, colors just look different in real life. And I think that each person's vision may be slightly different, which can help develop a unique style. 


An exaggerated disparity between color representations

The Experience

Aside from the differences in the actual painting, the experience of painting plein air is totally different than painting in a studio. Painting on location comes with lots of little challenges that change the way you have to approach the painting. For one, when you are painting outside, there are many things that limit the amount of time that you can spend on a painting. From weather and lighting changes to a busy schedule, there are a lot of things that limit your painting time. Because you will only have a limited amount of time to paint, you will make different decisions and take certain liberties to improvise what you are seeing. Also, being outside is such a relaxing experience, that, in and of it self is worth trying. You get to actually be in the painting and experience what that moment in time is like. If you paint a landscape from a picture, you can imagine what it would be like to be there, but you'll never truly know.

The Place for Reference Images

While this whole article is about how much better painting from life is, reference images certainly have their place. For one, reference images are accessible at all times. You really only get about twelve hours of light, and if you factor in the heat, the time you can enjoy painting outside gets smaller. Also, what you can paint from life is limited by what places you have near you. Painting from references can allow you to paint anywhere you'd like.

Whether you paint from references or from real life, I just hope that you enjoy it and that you can continue to do what you enjoy doing. 

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