Blog

En Plein Air

 I just returned from three wonderful days in Taos, New Mexico painting en plein air of the great scenery. Painting on location is an extraordinary experience simply for the challenges presented by the weather, location and not having all of the comforts of your studio. That said, “the flip side of that coin” is an experience received that can only be compared to a great hike or vacation in the natural world we live in. Taking the most valuable moments of the natural aroma’s, sounds and emotional attachment and applying it to the canvas is nothing short of amazing.

As the great masters of the past found, this out of studio experience was completely essential in conveying the “absolute truth” of any landscape to their paintings.

Today there is a resurgence for artists to go outside, take the palate and paints to create great work while revealing their inner hunger to become one with this incredible natural world. I believe this is the ultimate road map to the creation of truly organic fine art.

While many folks don’t understand many of the artists “finished” plein air art pieces with questions of why the piece is not “finished” or “detailed” into a more complete vision of the work, artists have the opportunity and indeed the responsibility to explain what is the sole purpose of plein air artwork. These explanations can be that the artist has a time boundary for completing the piece such as organized plein air events, or merely a study of the environment capturing only the essential elements of the scene. I have experienced such questions about the stage of completion; such as “are you finished?” “Don’t you need more detail?” “Is that a person?”, and many, many others. I do experience the inner need to “over work” my paintings many times and am trying to be more objective in nature in creating merely an organic study to be utilized in the studio later for the more completed painting.

In creating this experience en plein air, I bring the total outside experience into the studio. An example happened yesterday. A black and white spider about the size of a nickel crawling through the wet paint on the canvas… Great fun and I carefully moved it to the grass to live another day.

As an artist this organic experience is definitely one you must bring onto your canvas. You not only have created a finished piece of art, you have likely infused a great and memorable experience into it as well. For the consumer or collector, the final piece of art you’re purchasing comes with a time and event in the artist’s life that you will treasure along with the enjoyment the art brings to your life. So to bring this message to a close, go to the natural environment, experience all that she offers and bring those inseparable feelings to your customer with that inner passion applied.

Until next time, have fun and enjoy the journey-
May God Bless-

Ken Pieper
http://kenpieper.fineartstudioonline.com/