Studio Painting versus Plein Air

SOLD "Rowing Home," 11 x 14 original oil on canvas panel

I kayak to find remote locations. I find little shallow side creeks that large boats miss, where there are island chains with no houses. I find places that only the wildlife and sunbeams know about. These places are where I get my inspiration and my best painting subjects.

Finding great locations is my passion. I always have my camera with me, in case I pass something that I want a quick snap as a reference. Painting plein air, out in the wild, is a wonderful experience, but bringing my hefty oil palette, turpentine, canvases, rags, easel, and brushes is unweildy in a kayak. These accessories are necessary for oil painting. I guess I could strap the things to the side of the boat, but I lose immediacy when I have to lug out all the gear.

Plein air painting means I can feel the sun and the wind, breathe the humidity, hear the waves, and smell the salt water. My plein air paintings are wonderful. But just as wonderful are my studio paintings that I base on my plein air photos. I experience perhaps even more of the immediacy of a place when I'm taking photos, because I'm not distracted by the mess of the painting process. I take time to listen, feel, and smell the environment, and remember these things if I decide to paint in my studio. I've talked to many an artist who swears that plein air paintings are superior, and that they can tell the difference between something that has been painted plein air and something that was done in the studio. But I find that after spending the day out in the marshes and then come home to paint them, my mind is still there, and the result is even better than if I'd been standing at the scene. Placing my plein air and studio paintings side by side, no one has yet guessed correctly which one is plein air, and which is a studio painting.