Charity Anderson is a En Plein Air painter, so what is En Plein Air, you ask? En plein air is a French expression meaning “in the open air”, and refers to the act of painting outdoors with the artist's subject in full view. This method contrasts with studio painting that might create a predetermined look. The Theory of ‘En plein air’ painting is credited to Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1750-1819) where he developed the concept of landscape portraiture by which the artist paints directly onto the canvas what they we’re seeing within the landscape. This enabled the artist to better capture the changing details of weather and light.
In the 1800’s when portable easels, paint in tubes and canvases that could be transported we’re created it allowed the practice to develop in France and in the early 1830’s the Barbizon school of painting in natural light was highly influential. They taught tonal qualities, color, lose brushwork and softness of form. Artist Charles-Francois Daubigny, and Theodore Rousseau we’re both students at Barbizon.
In the early 1860s, four young painters: Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille met whilst studying under the academic artist Charles Gleyre. They discovered that they shared an interest in painting landscape and contemporary life and they often ventured into the countryside together to paint in the open air, that is what Charity Anderson does she takes hikes into amazing scenery and looks for a view that inspires her.
Steven McDonald is also an En Plein Air artist and he faces the challenges of painting outdoors, they include the type of paint used to paint outdoors, animals, bugs, onlookers, and environmental conditions such as weather. Acrylic paint may harden and dry quickly in warm, sunny weather and it cannot be reused. On the opposite side of the spectrum is the challenge of painting in moist or damp conditions with precipitation. The advent of plein air painting predated the invention of acrylics. The traditional and well-established method of painting en plein air incorporates the use of oil paint.
The most common and traditional color palette for en plein air painters is one that consists of a warm and a cool of each primary color. Steven McDonald uses the primary colors are the three colors that can't be mixed from other colors and that create other colors when mixed. These primary colors are red, yellow, and blue.
Charity Anderson and Steven Mcdonald are both en plein air painters, featured here are four pieces that we carry at Studio Seven Arts. The paintings used in this post are from Charity Anderson and Steven McDonald.
