What is Outdoor Painting?
One of my lesser known passions is painting outside or En Plein Air. There is something so relaxing being in the elements and taking in all the beauty. Your senses are engaged as you listen to the wind, the birds, and the ground crunching as you step. You can see gorgeous colors or the landscape, the clouds, and the elements around you. You feel the warmth of the sun, the wind on your face and sometimes the cold. You can smell flowers and fresh air. You can touch the ground, the trees, the grass.
Taking in these things and then sitting down with a minimal amount of supplies creates an incredible experience of calm and tranquility. And that's even before you sit down to paint! If you're unsure of how to prepare to paint outside, check out this video below for how I set up my on-the-go painting kit.
My Recent Plein Air Painting Session
During this Plein Air painting session, I woke up early, left the house without waking anyone up, and then went on a rapid-paced hike for about an hour. In that time I scoped out the perfect spot to sit AKA a nice flat stone surface! I took out my small paint palette, collapsable paint cup, travel brush, paper towel for dabbing, and my small sketchbook. Not sure how long I painted because I get lost in time. But in the end the sun was coming up over the mountains, creating a glowing scene as you can see in the last two pictures. I can't describe enough how much this experience fills my soul and energizes me for the rest of the week! Are you going to try it?
I was so immersed I forgot to take beginning pictures! But for the initial wash of color, I try to block out the basic elements with a light wash of watercolor and then while things are wet, dab in more saturated color in come areas to allow darker paint to bleed with that first wash.
Allowing your first layer to dry is key so that you can start building up the next layers. I tend to start light with lots of watery paint, then slowly add in darker layers, allowing drying time in-between. Otherwise your layers will run together and you will not have darker, defined edges where you need them.
I added in more details once everything had dried. I used paint that was more saturated so less water to paint ratio and started painting in details and more recognizable shapes. I added in the cactus, tree, and bushes, as well as stones to start creating perspective between distant mountains and elements in the foreground.
Painting En Plein Air is such a relaxing activity for your mental health because you are experiencing many sensus at one time. If you enjoy these activities, there is a lot of dopamine being released in your brain that causes enjoyment and the desire to repeat these healthy activities again and again.
