All pictures painted inside, in the studio will never be as good as the things done outside. – Paul Cezanne
Painting in Open Air photo: CANDRA GEORGE mycreativereality.com
Cover Artist Peg Usner by Shauna Grissett THE VERY DEFINITION of plein air painting is leaving the four walls of one’s studio and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. The practice goes back for centuries but was made into an art form by the French Impressionists. Their desire to paint light and its ever-changing ephemeral qualities, coupled with the creation of transportable paint tubes and the box easel, the precursor to the plein air easels of today, allowed artists the freedom to paint “en plein air”—the French expression for “in open air.” Artists have long painted outdoors but, in the mid-19th century, working in natural light became particularly important not only to the Impressionists, but to the Barbizon and Hudson 18
Inside Northside
River Schools, as well. Mandeville artist Peg Usner concentrates on plein air painting, and she creates art in the natural landscape. In particular, she adores the geography of Southeast Louisiana and the Deep South and depicts the beauty and bounty of their landscapes and architecture. The moss hanging from oaks along a >>