Painting in “Plein Air” (French for “in the plain air” or outside) means the artist must be ready for any challenge Mother Nature wants to throw at you, from bugs, wind, hot, cold, smoke, rain, snow etc. At this location, a friend's property near Shavano Valley in western Colorado, we were painting this rocky drainage as the morning light began to spill into it.
Light is another challenge, at the edge of the day, it changes very rapidly. An artist locks the light in early in the work, as “chasing the light” makes one crazy.
