Intrusions of Culture (Blog)

I recently listened to a podcast discussion about outdoor painting and a question came up about whether or not plein air paintings had the same value as studio pieces. Apparently some (certainly not all) collectors don't consider them to be on the same level with their more-polished cousins from the studio.


There are probably several reasons for this but one might be that many studio painters use outdoor sessions to fine tune, or work out the details for a much larger painting. That might contribute to the idea that they are merely "warm up" paintings. On a side note, many is the time that the so-called warm up was so good that it actually intimidates the artist to come up with a better studio version.


Whatever the reason, the question got me to thinking about how I might have answered it if asked.


Personally I don't consider either to be more or less valuable than the other. I prefer to think of them the same way I think of music, which is either live, or in studio. Like plein air, when it's live, it tends to be looser and far less polished. But there's nothing bad about that and it appeals to the soul in a completely different way. Some prefer live over studio and vice versa. Most like both, but each has its own value and character.


If I were in the market to buy a painting and had a choice between one or the other, I might even lean toward the plein air just because there's some added value, in my mind, to knowing the the artist was "there" on that very spot. The sights, sounds, smells, and all of the other sensory experiences that the outdoor artist faces, are right there in the painting.


Think of it this way: when you paint outdoors, you are trying to capture moving lights and shadows within a few hours while standing on a giant rock called Earth, that is rotating on its axis at 1,040 miles per hour. Now, THAT is a wild ride.


Of course it's much easier than that makes it sound, but you get the picture. This constant moving and changing makes for a painting that has a lot of movement and change built right in. Not to mention the occasional flying gnat or air-blown pollen.


So, the next time you consider buying one or the other, I hope this gives you a little something to think about. And please feel free to let me know your own thoughts on the subject.