For the ultimate beginner, these concepts are essential.

  • 12 Things to Remember when Painting on Location

    There’s a lot to remember when you are out there painting but here’s the best short list you can tuck away in your mind or print out and take with you. It’s like a checklist you can use on location… Simplify The landscape is complicated. You will need to leave a lot of the details…

  • 18 Tools, a Plein Air Checklist

    This is the short list of tools and gear you ought to bring for every paint out. Lots more could be added but don’t forget these! Portable “French” easel or other comparable easel. Palette (usually comes with the easel) or other mixing area 11×14 to 16×20 stretched canvases, canvas panels, or boards Disposable latex surgical…

  • 3 Basic Steps of “Building” a Plein Air Painting

    Construct a successful plein air painting from the ground up in three basic steps, laying the foundation, nailing down the look, and finishing it up. Each step includes many important smaller tasks, of course, so finishing one step at a time, physically and mentally, puts the odds in your favor. Here they are in brief… 1. Laying the Foundation Building your painting…

  • 3 Eye-Opening Truths About Color Most Artists Don’t Know

    The Three Architectures of Light: Beyond the Primitive Wheel The artist often stands before the easel, mixing with hope but landing in mud. The palette becomes a graveyard of “off” notes. This frustration is not a lack of talent; it is the result of a broken compass. Without a coherent system, the painter is merely…

  • 5 Questions to Ask on Location Before Painting

    So much to think about when you are about to begin a plein air painting! To keep from being overwhelmed from the start and to insure success,  take a Mandatory Deep Breath and then ask yourself these five questions: What is the subject I am about to paint? Something caught your eye about the scene…

  • At the Office

    “I’ll be at the office.”, the artist says with a twinkle in the eye. It’s a wry bit of humor that points out how fortunate the plein air artist is to have a workplace that has nice lighting, a beautiful view, and peaceful quiet. The desk is the easel, the carpet is dirt, weeds, or sand,…

  • Brush Carrier

    Shown in the photo, the canvas brush carrier is one of those simple tools that really does the job. It always works and never lets you down. Carry all of your brushes, palette knives, and pencils in this pouch. The flap folds over the contents and then you roll it up. Two sewn in strings…

  • Color Block Studies

    The Legacy of “Visual Music” Henry Hensche was a pivotal American Impressionist and a teacher who spent over 50 years at the Cape School of Art demonstrating how to truly see. He developed a method focused on “visual music”—the idea that color is not a mere decoration, but a harmony that vibrates exactly as it…

  • Color Block Studies

    The color block study is a foundational exercise designed to simplify the visual field by using geometric shapes to isolate color relationships from complex details like anatomy or texture. This method emphasizes observational honesty, requiring the artist to record “color spots” as they are actually perceived under specific atmospheric conditions rather than relying on mental…

  • Color Lab: Creating a Zorn Palette Grid

    To truly understand how a limited palette works, you should build your own color chart. This “color lab” exercise trains the eye to see how black, red, yellow, and white interact. Together, these colors create a full range of atmospheric tones. 1. Preparation Use a canvas or a sturdy panel. Draw a grid with eight…

  • Creating Delicious Brushwork in your Plein Air Painting

    Yum! Half the fun of looking at a plein air painting is enjoying it up close and personal. It is a worthy goal for the plein air painter to work a kind of magic with paint, making a realistic view when the viewer steps back and a scrumptious abstract when they step in closer to…

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  • Did You Get YOUR Free eBook?

    Sign up for the How to Paint Plein Air website newsletter now and download the FREE ebook entitled “Plein Air Painting Tools & Supplies” written by me, Robert Lewis. Essential plein air painting tools and supplies are discussed in detail with images. This is the only list you will need to get started painting plein air. Compare…

  • Harboring a Secret Love

    Perhaps it isn’t a secret anymore, now that I am posting it to the world. Or, maybe the world already saw what I did not see. In any case, I have just realized it myself: I’ve been harboring a secret love. For Monterey harbor. Going through my website, taking an inventory of the different subjects…

  • How to Paint for Success

    It’s not about painting to sell. If selling is your ambition then you will never be a successful painter. Have the ambition to be a very good painter who creates a good painting every time. Paint for success. You want paintings that are successful. If they are truly successful then sales will take care of themselves. Focus on…

  • How to Think about Plein Air Painting

    Mind Over Matter Plein air painting begins with an understanding of what it means to work on location. It is not simply expedient rendering—it is an act of deliberate focus. Think of the difference between opening a can of food and preparing a meal from the raw ingredients; only one involves the attention and care…

  • It’s All about Contrasts

    A small oil sketch like this is great practice. Keep it simple. Go for the heart of the subject. In this case, the heart is the white table that has turned pink from the red umbrella and blue from the sky, with some brilliant white thrown in from the direct sun. You don’t have to…

  • Keep a Painting Journal

    What does writing have to do with painting? For a dedicated painter—especially one just starting out—writing serves to anchor the experience. It allows you to examine your time spent painting outdoors and extract the most value from it. After spending hours navigating the elements, physical fatigue, and the demands of oil paint to complete a…

  • Mediterranean Villa, Monterey

  • Mission Ranch