Plein Air Survey

Plein Air Painting Survey

Window in the Studio, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, Van Gogh Musuem
Window in the Studio, Vincent van Gogh, 1889

Particularly during Covid-19 we are interested in the challenges faced by artists to keep painting outside or from within. Has it sent you back to the studio or do you have a garden to paint in or from? Has it changed your subject matter? What are the lockdown pros and cons, what do you miss most about a plein air paint out?

"Plein Air painting is for people who love to be outdoors..." – Plein Air Magazine
eg the challenges, the camaraderie, the tips from other artists, the locations, the awards, the weather, the early starts, the pub!
"Doing the competition was such a valuable and unforgettable experience and I learnt a great deal through painting so intensely for four days in the company of other artists, and working on a larger scale than I am used to. During my time studying in Norwich, I was never brave enough to get outside to paint and so I particularly loved trying to capture the city at night for the first time!" – Sarah Allbrook
"It may well be that I shall stay here long enough – I have never been so peaceful as here and in the hospital in Arles – to be able to paint a little at last." – Vincent van Gogh
"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
"The artist gazes upon a reality and creates his own impression. The viewer gazes upon the impression and creates his own reality." – Robert Brault
"Drawing is the root of everything...The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right." – Vincent van Gogh
"The eye requires colour as much as it requires light." – Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Theory of Colour 1810 "In nature, light creates the color. In the picture, color creates the light." – Hans Hofmann
"More varied than any landscape was the landscape in the sky, with islands of gold and silver, peninsulas of apricot and rose against a background of many shades of turquoise and azure." – Cecil Beaton
"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." – Vincent Van Gogh
"To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature." – Auguste Rodin "I see drawings and pictures in the poorest of huts and the dirtiest of corners." – Vincent van Gogh
"I paint because the spirits whisper madly inside my head." – El Greco
"Oh! I must somehow manage to do a figure in a few strokes." – Vincent van Gogh
"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary." – Aaron Rose
"With all the changing atmosphere and clouds, changing light and everything, you basically have to stick to your original idea. It's very challenging at times." – Clyde Aspevig