Oops...I found out that plein air painting isn't what I'd been led to believe it was. The act of painting outdoors, on location, with a focus on "capturing a moment" by recording the light and color or a particular place and time is still a sufficient definition. But evidently, there are a few rules I've overlooked. I'd like to thank a popular plein air painting publication, available by subscription, for setting me straight. This is by no means a cut and dry type of list, as I may have only included the rules that have been most discouraging for me to learn...and...I might like trying to be satirical.
You MIGHT NOT be painting "en plein air" if...
1. Your finished painting doesn't look like it was created 200 years ago, or it's aesthetic is too different from acclaimed dead painters who often painted the technological and industrial achievements of their time "en plein air" because of a true interest in the world around them and a dedication to be truthful representation of it.
2. You include a Dollar Store sign in an otherwise nostalgic street scene.
3. You consciously try to avoid a "painting location" during a plein air painting event because a dozen people are there, painting pictures of the exact same thing they've painted there the past 10 years.
4. You call your plein air paintings "paintings" rather than "studies" or "pieces"
5. You don't consider plein air painting and studio painting to be two entirely different processes that results in two different calibers of work.
6. You don't participate in all of your local "plein air community" events.
7. You only participate in a few "plein air communtiy" events for the sole purpose of selling your paintings, because you can go out and paint "en plein air" at literally any other time.
8. You follow all of these rules of plein air painting, but while painting a subject that makes people feel uncomfortable or any emotion other than nostalgia or benevolence.
9. You believe plein air painting is a practice, not a style.
10. You try to paint anything as if it's anything else, even if the subject is ugly or provocative, and regardless of what viewers might misinterpret, such as a personal statement or lack thereof.
11. You believe that beauty can be found in something not inherently beautiful. Or, that beauty isn't a requirement for making "art". Or, that the act of making a painting isn't synonymous with making "art".
12. You don't believe everything you read in Plein Air Magazine, don't attend their annual conference, or don't participate in their monthly contest that doesn't really have anything to do with plein air painting (I've received 3 awards, coincidentally).
13. You try to be as honest as possible all of the time, even if people mistake your honesty for defiance or rebelliousness.
14. You took offense to this.
