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I don't like most of what I paint outdoors, but the process is the point; and I know it will make me a better painter. (Gaye Adams)
Ninety percent of my plein air landscape paintings are completed on location, but it's the last ten percent that I do at my studio easel that is my personal interpretation as an artist. (Peter Adams)
Plein-air painting is the perfect forum for learning how to use watercolor, as it is observation-driven. Placing technique secondary to observation is the essence of working the the field. (Ken Auster)
Plein air is not about quickly executing a scene and slinging thick paint just to have it on the canvas. Maintaining control of art principles is an imperative. (Kenn Backhaus)
Once artists have set a course, they need to stick to that course and not allow the ever-changing on-location process to interfere. (Kenn Backhaus)
Painting en plein air you will be doing problem solving 'on your feet.' (J.R. Baldini)
out-of-doors, n. That part of one's environment upon which no government has been able to collect taxes. Chiefly useful to inspire poets. (Ambrose Bierce)
With Fench easels... there are these "wing nuts" and after setting up and taking down 3 or 4 times a day, those little nuts become 4 letter words!!! (Betty Jean Billups)
Every time we go out to paint, we are full of reasons why painting right this very minute isn't such a good idea – the ferry is about to leave, it may rain at any moment, there's no comfortable place to sit... our brains come up with a hundred reasons not to pick up the brush. (Eleanor Blair)
There is an undeniable urgency when painting outdoors – nature's so grand, the canvas so small. It takes the human mind with all its grand abilities and complexities to sort through the overwhelming visual feast set before it and re-create on canvas the essential components of such beauty and wonder. (Jan Blencowe)
To look, to see, to understand, to capture – however imperfectly – is to be part of the land in a way like no other. (Jan Blencowe)
Some plein air painters take considerable time to find just the right spot to paint before settling down to work and others are painting in less than two minutes of arrival. Often, it is the painter who sets up immediately who does the best work. (Linda Blondheim)
Plein air painting is still an interpretation of reality, even though I am seeing the scene first hand. My "truth" is far more interesting to me than the scene in reality. (Linda Blondheim)
Plein air painting is my response to the moment - the reflected light in the water or the mood created by the shadows. (Keith Bond)
You can be bashed around in the bush. If your hands freeze, your face burns, or the mozzies suck your blood, so much the better. (Lorne Bouchard)
To steep oneself in the sky. To capture the tenderness of the clouds. To let the cloud masses float in the background, far off in the gray mist, and then make the blue blaze forth. (Eugene Boudin)
We flogged through thigh-deep mud and were poked and punctured by ancient spruce that were no more than 2 meters tall. We were to seek cover from the insects and were always on the lookout for bears and angry moose. For landscape painters it is very important to experience the places we choose to paint first hand. (Mark A. Brennan)
Notes from the field become part of an ongoing experience where each painting contributes in some way to the next. (Gavin Brooks)
-describing the Society of Six, an Oakland, California, group of plein air landscape painters, 1916-1929...
Fence-Post Impressionism. (Peter William Brown)
Plein air paintings are life, and without them the rest of my work would die. Without it, I would have nothing to say in the studio, because without real-life experience, art is impossible. (Scott Burdick)
Working outdoors or from life puts you in direct contact with the life force, not just the light and the landscape, but also the vitality of the world around you. (George Carlson)
All pictures painted inside in the studio will never be as good as the things done outside. (Paul Cezanne)
I strive to capture the moment, that fleeting light or atmospheric effect, tackled with a sense of urgency and an awareness that the prevailing conditions are transient and will not be precisely repeated. (Trevor Chamberlain)
I don't believe in making pencil sketches and then painting your landscape in your studio. You must be right under the sky. (William Merritt Chase)
Organizing the shapes, colors, patterns and values as they relate to the rest of the landscape, and which shift in the changing light, presents problems as well as many opportunities. (Scott L. Christensen)
When I begin in my "place," I make a drawing in every direction from where I stand, and often what I end up painting is behind me. I see artists as having more eyes than most. (Suzanne Kelley Clark)
With all our precautions in choosing a simple subject, and only working grey days, it will be found that anything out-of-doors is apt to change its colour and tone in a very perplexing way. (John Collier)
I see much opinion expressed by artists about the superiority of painting outdoors over studio work, yet many painters who call themselves plein air painters do much of their work in the studio, using paintings done outdoors as reference, along with photos. (Melinda Collins)
I only paint one thing - the effect of light. If I can do that, then anything worthy of being painted will appear on my paper or canvas - a tree, a forest, a mountain... It will have been worthy because of the unique river of light and shadow that flowed across it for that one brief hour or two. (Michele Cooper)
It's all that reality - you are in the world that you're painting. The light changes, the wind blows, things are constantly moving. You are forced to paint quickly and spontaneously. (Sherrill Cooper)
Do console your poor friend, who is so troubled to see his paintings so miserable, so sad, next to the radiant nature he has before his eyes! (Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot)
-on John Singer Sargent...
In these sketches from the portfolio of a wandering painter we have the typical modern naturalist noting whatever chances to appeal to him... not for what they are or what they mean, but almost solely for how they look. (Kenyon Cox)
My oils are finished alla prima in the field... decorated with suicidal bugs... my shirt soaked in sweat. This is authentic "guerrilla" painting, backpacking everything into remote locations... enraptured there until the light fails. (Alan Craig)
It's a higher frequency of consciousness when you get "out there." (Aliye Cullu)
The first time we went out to paint en plein air, it was so cumbersome. I tried to drag my whole studio with me. They were already painting and I was still stumbling through the brush trying to get my gear set up. (Bill Davis)
While painting at Ghost Ranch, a dust storm came up and filled my wet canvas with sand and possibly the remains of many whose ashes had been sprinkled in the canyon, looking towards Pedernal Mountain where Georgia O'Keeffe painted so many times. There is nothing quite like painting en plein air. (Dee Beard Dean)
If I were in the government I would have a brigade of policemen assigned to keeping an eye on people who paint landscapes outdoors. Oh, I wouldn't want anyone killed. I'd be satisfied with just a little buckshot to begin with. (Edgar Degas)
Plein air paintings are a bit like short poems. These poems are not deep and heavy but more light and breezy. A good poet might write a bunch of them and throw away more than a few. A plein air painting is rough and reveals a good deal more about the artist than a studio job. (Paul deMarrais)
Waste not your time on broad sketches in color. (Asher B. Durand)
After ten days of battling the elements in the Florida heat, the [a veteran studio painter's] response to the question "So how do you like painting outdoors?" was, "I realize now that I prefer painting in Plein Air Conditioning!" (Mary Erickson)
The view is loaded with Light, Light, Light, ever changing and so wonderful in its myriad colors. (Candace Faber)
I'm constantly painting the landscape in my head as I drive along, and when I see something that refuses to give way to the next scene, I stop the car and turn around. (Gay Falkenberry)
Some plein air artists profess their works are somehow more valid because they were painted on location. If you're a musician inspired by nature, does that mean you have to create a symphony out in the field? (Peter Fiore)
Plein air painting and painting from a reference: The first is like going to Paris for two weeks with your girl friend, the second is like reading a book about Paris at the local library. (Sylvio Gagnon)
An early flourish of confidence is useful. Then there's the small crudities – the slubs and bumps that come with outdoor work – the odd charm of imprecision. (Robert Genn)
No one would have the courage to walk up to a writer and ask to look at the last few pages of his manuscript, but they feel perfectly comfortable staring over an artist's shoulder while he is trying to paint. (Robert Genn)
Everything outside is exciting to look at. There are suddenly hundreds of paintings all around me. (Irwin Greenberg)
Whenever I've gone outdoors to paint there is this heightened perceptiveness afterwards. This being at one with everything - the air is fresher and the sky is glorious. It's a thrill to be alive - and being a painter makes you the luckiest of men. (Irwin Greenberg)
There comes a point in an outdoor painting when you should ignore the subject and do what the painting demands. (Don Grieger)
For my plein air work, I typically travel by dinghy and on foot [from on-board studio living]. (Karen Hewitt Hagan)
Painting with stiffened hands in zero weather is, in itself, something of a trick. (A. T. Hibbard)
Snow and paint make a hopeless mixture. When a gale blows, you need to scrape your palette clean and, if the colors are not too stiff in the tubes, reset it with fresh pigment. There is always the hazard of frozen ears and frostbitten nose. (A. T. Hibbard)
Deep into a climb into the mountains to paint, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my palette box. Determined to paint anyway, I set up, found a flattish rock, squeezed my paint onto it and used it as a palette. Afterwards, I cleaned off the rock and turned it upside down. Good as new! (Quang Ho)
I prefer every time a picture composed and painted outdoors. The thing is done without your knowing it. (Winslow Homer)
There is no bad weather for painting en plein air; only bad painting clothes. (Barbara Jablonski)
In the plein air painters of our time, I have observed a renewed sense of urgency and fervor to capture the natural landscape. (L. Diane Johnson)
After a few plein air attempts, I found the fast and often half finished and underdone pieces were giving me more pleasure than laboriously ended paintings. So I am left with many "unfinished" works done for my soul and not for sale. (George Kubac)
I can't think of anything finer than jumping out of bed or my sleeping bag, or rolling out of my camper in some remote place, and strapping on my backpack full of my painting supplies, then hitting the trail... (Jean LeGassick)
-sketching at Lake O'Hara...
Snow and reflections were beautiful but transient effects and other difficulties were beyond me. (J. E. H. MacDonald)
I feel like a bear or an old pack horse recuperating, nothing highly spiritual but a bodily satisfaction. Perhaps that is being in 'toon with the infinite.' (J. E. H. MacDonald)
Nothing compares to judging spots of color next to each other en plein air. (Jeff Mahorney)
There is only one true thing: instantly paint what you see. (Edouard Manet)
The act of painting outdoors is like a dance to the tempo of the evolving day, following the lead of the wind, impelled by the measured meter of shadows moving in their eternal celestial rhythms. (Louisa McElwain)
As a plein air artist, you are challenged to stretch yourself, as you are constantly exposed – by design or by accident – to experiences and scenes you might never have predicted or planned. (Zenaida Mott)
A true painter should have no home – but to wander in search of scenery and character – during Spring, Summer, and Autumn – some pictures to be finished on the spot, and others to be finished [in the studio] in the winter... (William Sidney Mount)
It is not surprising that some of the more successful plein air painters have commercial art in their background. (Ned Mueller)
Painting outdoors is a distillation of time, a capturing of the essence of existence during a specific period in the artist's experience. (Charles Muench)
I start about 75 percent of my work outside, spending two to six hours before bringing the painting inside the studio to finish. For larger paintings, I try to return the picture to the same location for a second or even third day. (Thomas M. Nicholas)
When you're an artist – especially a plein air artist, where you're working outside – you see the best of life all the time. (Tom Nichols)
God's world is very beautiful and aesthetically superior, so when we paint directly from live subjects, we learn colour, light and brevity from the most indisputable teacher. (Serguei Ouissik)
Working on-site is hard and fast. You have to work it out and get it done. It's like a swordfight. On the other hand, studio work is quiet, contemplative and internal... (Grace Paleg)
In about an hour it was so cold I couldn't squeeze the paint out of the tubes. I took my thermos of tea, poured a cup, immersed several tubes of paint and was able to thaw them enough to do a few quick paintings before I ran out of hot tea and toes. (Richard Paris)
Plein air painting renews my 'art spirit' and inspires more creativity in the studio. (Bonnie Paruch)
There is no other resource so plentiful, ever-changing, and full of information than nature around us. Get ready to dive in with both feet and don't forget to bring your sense of humor. (Lori Putnam)
All the students have shown more advance in two months of summer study than they have in a year of ordinary instruction, largely due to their free and wholesome life in the open air. (Howard Pyle)
I managed to potter along tolerably well in the morning, sitting in the sun and sketching the old buildings... but in the afternoon, sitting in the shade... with stiff fingers and chilled bones... the water froze in little cakes all over the picture. (Howard Pyle)
I was outside one day. My insteps were hurting. It was very windy, and I had trouble keeping my easel up. So I quit. (Edward Redfield)
As difficult as it is painting outdoors, there is no where else I'd rather work - all the answers stand right before you. You may need to move some things around, but it is still all right there in front of you. A bit like taking an open book test. (William F. Reese)
If I don't have something in an hour-and-a-half or two hours, the sun is going to change, meaning my shadows are going to change. If I am painting the ocean, the tide is coming or going. (Todd Reifers)
Artists who battle the elements, the extreme effort and the exhaustive study to be able to paint a high-quality work in one sitting, wet-on-wet while on location, have something very special to offer. (B. Eric Rhoads)
Those wonderful things out of doors... rain, falling snow, wind – all these things to contend with only make the open-air painter love the fight. (Elmer Schofield)
The plein air artist gets to do it all – location scouting, directing, poetry, and painting. Each painting is part of a continuous tale, capturing the moment and recording the forever-changing landscape of life. (Randall Sexton)
-when the wind shifted at a pig farm painting site...
It is time to leave. (Lundy Siegriest)
To capture mood, light and the gentle breeze, try painting en plein air. (Heidi Smith)
The sun on rich objects and mystery in shadows, the feel of the temperature and atmosphere on my skin - these are the foundations of my compulsion to paint. (Kathryn Stats)
I would not encourage young artists today to paint in retrospect, but rather enjoy painting directly from life, where all the answers are looking right at you. (John Stobart)
Monet, Manet, Sisley, Renoir, Van Gogh and others went outside to paint for one simple reason – it looks different outside. (Mike Svob)
To finish a work within the limited time frame [outdoors], I am compelled to abstract the forms and organize the value and color patterns,which pushes me to clarify what I'm tying to say in each painting. (Ann Templeton)
There's nothing like leaving your soul in a place and enjoying the beauty of plein air painting, battling the sun, insects and time. Always remember to keep your concentration and not bring home a turkey! (Andries Veerman)
Plein Air painting: do not spend your time thinking about everything or you will miss what the painting is about - capture the moody of the day, have fun and think about it later. (Van Waldron)
-to Samuel Harkness McCrea, 1896...
It will cost me very little to go out and little after I get there. (William Wendt)
Plein air painting is not a spectator sport, and it's not a team effort. It's the discipline of discovering yourself as you try to unravel the magic. (Skip Whitcomb)
When you're on the spot, you're seeing the best values, the cleanest color and real edges. You're also seeing objects in a wonderful light, and you're much more apt to paint a clear, un-muddied picture. (Wayne E. Wolfe)
Painting in subzero weather with a brush stuck through a wool sock is still practiced in Russia. Even studies in watercolor are made in winter by using vodka to dilute the paints because it does not freeze. (John H. Wurdeman)
God, I've frozen my ass off painting snow scenes! (Andrew Wyeth)
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