To many artists, ?plein air?, or painting on location is the most virtuous and/or absolute ideal way to practice their craft. This group of artists believe being present with and painting directly from reality makes the process and result somehow more honest and maybe even closer to God. To devout artists of this deep ?plein air? persuasion, painting from secondary sources in the studio is somehow ?secondary?. All things being equal, on location work is more valuable for just that reason. It was done ?on location?.

Well, it?s an aesthetically free time; you can pretty much carry on with whatever barbaric artistic rituals and beliefs you like. At the very least painting outdoors provides inspiration to the practical artist but it does offer many other things which will be discussed later in this article.   

It was the Impressionists who really took painting out of the old medieval artist studio and into the fresh air of the great outdoors. Monet, Manet, Sissley, Renoir , Van Gogh and others went outside to paint for one simple reason it looks different outside than it does inside. They wanted to imitate or imbue what they saw in the world outside the studio into their own paintings. They thought by being there and painting what they actually saw in front of them, their work would be closer to the reality they wanted to convey. It makes one wonder why they were not called the realists. In practice, the Impressionists were striving to capture the reality of natural light and how it impacted on their chosen subject matter. The methods and techniques they employed greatly expanded the range of subject matter considered acceptable to paint and the style in which an artist could work to express their ideas. The huge popularity of the work done by the Impressionists continues to this day. This alone should be testament enough to anyone considering whether to venture forth out of their cozy indoor painting studio.

From the other perspective, many artists believe their craft is best practiced only in a closely controlled environment. They disdain the necessity of painting from reality or even the necessity of any reference to reality in their work. To this group, artistic expression is an abstract cerebral exercise and any reference to so-called realist visual concepts is not only unnecessary but something to be avoided. This group often gets their best ideas in a sweat lodge. Whatever your personal bent or persuasion, as an artist, there is merit in either end of the painting milieu even if you ultimately find yourself somewhere in between.

From a personal perspective I find the ?plein air? type of painting much closer to my ideal. The problem from the perspective of a professional artist (or one without bags of loot) is painting on location requires extra time, money and physical effort for the amount of work produced. It is in effect a luxury that some painters love to indulge in or avoid out of necessity. There is little doubt that painting in the Rockies, the Queen Charlottes, the coast of Cornwall, Tuscany or anywhere else you aspire to travel will make your artistic vision and scope blossom forth into new ways.

Join Mike Svob for a trip to France from June 4th to 19th, 2005 and experience the wonders of painting in the outdoors ? in France! To find out about this trip please visit Mike Svob?s website at www.mikesvob.com