BellaOnline Forums Education Art Appreciation Experiences with doing artwork outdoors?

Since the weather is getting warmer now, I got to thinking about doing some painting outdoors and it inspired me to write an article about "plein air" painting. You can click here to see the article.

Has anyone ever painted (or done some other kind of artwork) outdoors before? If so, what were your experiences like?

Hi Diana- I enjoyed your article. Each year I look forward to going outside and doing a little painting, and each year I don't do as much as I would like. The idea of pulling all of my stuff out... Well, I guess I'm just lazy.

I also don't like to be uncomfortable. Too hot, too cold. Sun in my eyes... It has to be the perfect day. What I enjoy most is when a group of us will go to a park and set up. It's a social event and worth the effort.

One addition to your list which has changed plein air significantly is the invention of the camera. As you paint the sun changes the landscape dramatically, and it's helpful to take photos. With a camera you can begin outside and finish details inside.

Hi Diana, Great article! I never gave much thought to the way paint is available to us in tubes. Thanks for the interesting info.

I agree about the camera. I love to draw and paint outdoor subjects but I prefer taking a photo of the subject and working on it at my leisure. If you find the perfect subject in the perfect light, take a photo. The light changes so fast that the way you want to paint it is gone too fast.

Although the camera isn't an invention that helps you paint outdoors it sure do agree that it's a great invention for painting the outdoors while you are indoors! I find a camera indispensible, even for painting human figures, since I have no models and I must use myself to paint some parts of the body accurately. I just set up a tripod, take a few shots and print them out. Such is the beauty of a digital camera. It is particularly useful for hand positions.

I agree that one of the challenges of painting scenery from real life is that the lighting changes so rapidly. As you say, Carol, you can always finish up indoors with a photo if you can't finish up quickly enough.

I'm a sculptor and I love to spend as much time outside as possible. Often I study wildlife while sitting outside in their natural habitat and it really improves my sculptures when I create those types of animals in my work after observing them for several days. Like everyone else I often use a camera to capture particular movements to get the muscle tones correct and obviously an anole or other creature won't stand still forever so the camera is handy. I often sculpt outside though and enjoy it over being in a studio.

I had never considered sculpting outdoors. But of course there is no reason that it can't be done. It sounds like it really adds an extra dimension to your experience, Onewithclay. I can see how a camera would be indispensible if you are sculpting animals since as you say, it's unlikely they will be standing still for long.

As a watercolor painter I find it difficult to paint outdoors. The air is always too wet or too dry; either the paint dries SO slowly or else it dries in the brush! Although when conditions are right I have had my best successes when painting outdoors, I think that it forces me to work fast.
Once I took a 5 day workshop at the Nantucket Island school of art & design in late September when the weather was at it's best there. They would truck the students somewhere picturesque on the island and just leave us there to paint to our heart's content. It was wonderful, and I really accomplished a lot.
But usually I work indoors from photos that I took myself.

One advantage to sculpting outside is that I can take a water mister out with me and moisten the clay when the air starts drying it. I love nature and I get lots of inspirations out there.

Speaking of clay sculpture, although sculpture is not at all my primary medium, I did take a figure sculpture class at an art institute once. It was a great experience! I did learn how to make good use of the water mister since the clay dries so quickly, even inside. I can imagine how drying the outdoor environment would be for clay.