ELI5: What Is Plein Air Painting?

Plein air painting simply means taking your art supplies outside and painting nature while looking right at it, instead of staying inside a room.

The word "plein air" is French for "open air" or "outdoors."

Think about when you draw a picture in your everyday life. Usually, you sit at the kitchen table and draw a tree from your imagination, or you look at a photograph on a screen. But when an artist does plein air painting, they pack up their paints, walk outside to the park, sit on the grass right in front of a real tree, and paint exactly what they see at that very moment.

It is a lot like having a picnic, but with brushes instead of sandwiches!

Doing art outside is exciting, but it is also a fun challenge because nature is always moving:

• The moving sun: Just like how you have to move your beach towel when the shade changes, the sunlight moves quickly. The painter has to work fast before the shadows change.
• The weather: A sudden breeze might rustle the leaves, or clouds might cover the sun, changing the colors of the grass from bright lime green to dark forest green.
• The sounds and sights: The artist gets to hear birds singing, feel the warm wind, and smell the flowers, which helps them make a lively, happy painting.