Making Art in the wild

Drawing and painting en plein air

I’m sure if you’ve studied art history and the Impressionists, you’ve seen this phrase en plein air and you’re aware it means essentially ‘drawing and painting out of doors’. Monet was a great man for it, as were Van Gogh, Pissaro, Cézanne, and Renoir. Credit is due to Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes who developed the concept of painting the landscape in his treatise Reflections and Advice to a Student on Painting, Particularly on Landscape (1800) and later, the Barbizon School in France.

Equipment, materials and surfaces.

Traditional equipment for an en plein air painter was oil paint or watercolours, portable easel with a built-in paint box and telescopic legs. Similar easels are still sold today. Artists from the 1800s would also use a pochade box which could hold the artist’s paints, brushes, drawing media and palette and you could have the artwork on the inside of the lid. Depending on the medium they were using, artists would bring and use canvas or paper, but would be limited in terms of size.

Today many artists use the easel and similar boxes for their en plein air works, and you can buy watercolour and gouache paints in either tubes or in little pans from any art supply shop. I like to use other media.

Preparation

I live in Ireland and if I’m planning an outdoor session with a hike, both Dolf (my significant other) spend the preceding few days squinting at www.yr.no to see where the weather is best – e.g. the location that’s the least likely to surprise us with sudden squally showers or strong winds. If you need water for painting, you can bring it with you. And bring a camera so that you can have a photographic reference as a guide for later in the studio if you need it. Or just to compare what you made with what you were looking at ….

My own experience

I’ve used acrylic paint quite successfully, although the disadvantage of acrylic is that it dries very quickly and you’re stuck with what you’ve done, so you need to paint over it. I’ve also had great success with oil pastels, earlier with coloured card paper because it’s good and strong and can take the vigorous rubbing I do to blend my pastel colours, and more recently velour paper or pastel pad which are much easier surfaces for blending the colours, and don’t require fixative afterwards.

I’ve brought pencils and watercolours, and while I enjoy the exercise and challenges of using watercolour, it’s not really my favourite medium.

Lately I’ve been using a lot of the Derwent Inktense Blocks, I find them so versatile in the sense that you can use them to draw like pastels, or you can use them with water to create washes with a paintbrush. I learned a lot about using them from videos on YouTube, and I use fixative once they are done and dry. I like to use them on coloured card paper.

I get multi-coloured sheets of the card paper in my local supermarket – believe it or not – that work really well for drawing and painting outside, they’re an ideal size and fit into my little rucksack along with the various other bits and pieces. For the special pastel velour paper and pastel pads, I either order them online or get them from one of the art supply shops in Limerick city or wherever I happen to find them.

And one other very useful item: I cannot stress enough how great bulldog clips are for keeping your paper under control and firmly attached to your harder surface like the pad or cardboard back of a pad or piece of wood. You need at least two clips, see the photo to get an idea.

Other tips

If you’re going out in the countryside, be aware of your surroundings. Your own safety is also important, so it’s better to go en plein air drawing and painting with people you know and trust. If you’re on your own, you are more likely to attract attention from various individuals, attention which can range from curious and interested to mildly annoying, and even downright harassment. Arrange your things so that if you feel unsafe, you can simply leave – there’s nothing stopping you from finishing the artwork at home later, using a photo you’ve taken as a guide.

It might be obvious, but dress appropriately. You might have to walk over rough ground to reach your spot, so wear suitable shoes or boots. If you’re walking or climbing to get to your vantage point, you’ll cool down quickly, so bring a hoodie or something to pull on before you get stuck into making your art.  If you’re climbing to a hilltop that’s exposed, there’s likely to be wind and possibly rain showers or mist, so have a poncho or jumper or hoodie at the ready.

Naturally if you’re intending to go on to private property, be sure to clear this up with the landowner first. It can happen that a farmer releases a herd of cows, for example, into the field where you’re painting and they’re a bit nosy and can get a bit excited because you’re something strange in their field. You might have to simply abandon your stuff if there’s a bull among them – so yes, DEFINITELY clear it with the landowner first!

Enjoy the landscape and have fun painting!

Do you like the image below? See and buy the original artwork here.