Mary’s Landscape Art Info

While it may seem like there is a typo in the title to this blog post, the expression “en plein air” is actually French. As you can probably imagine, the phrase translates simply as “in the open air” and is used to describe painting outdoors. For hundreds of years artists have been taking their easels outside to find inspiration, but plein air painting was particularly in vogue among the Impressionists of the mid-19th century.

Many artists claim that the main advantage of painting outdoors is the lighting. The light outside is referred to as diffuse light and creates a “large white umbrella.” Not only does the lighting behoove the painter, but it is also obviously beneficial to be in nature when you are attempting to capture it in all of its glory.