Plein air painting

Quick study painted at the Montenvers, Chamonix.

I had done plein air painting when I was a “beginner”, years ago. I found this hard but extremely interesting and, once you understand what the challenge is about, very rewarding.

And then I stopped and worked mostly from photographs I would take. In my “French” mind, plein air painting had become totally “passé”, out of fashion, gone.

And then, on Instagram mostly, I noticed that some figurative painters,very few in Europe but in the US and also in Russia where plein air painting again. I remained a bit hesistant for a few months and finally I built myself a painting box, also called “pochade box” ( from the French “pochade” which is precisely a small painting tha you do quickly outdoors), and I started practising from my garden and then in the moutains .

And nowadays, plein air painting seems to be popular again, even in France … interesting !