Below are
my interpretations of what these mean.
"Working from life"
Working from life is a practice deeply rooted in artistic traditions -
before photography and projectors and other forms of technology were
invented.
It is commonly used to mean working with the subject in front of you
whether it's a landscape, an interior, a still life or a person.
No photographs are involved, there is no tracing or projection of the
subject. The artist has to sight size the subject and make judgements about values and
colours using their eyes and the experience and skills they have developed
through working from life.
Bottom line - it's essentially about:
- developing your skills by drawing from life a lot and
- then trusting your eyes and drawing and painting what is in front of you.
Practice helps enormously with developing skills. A number of artists
routinely make a point of keeping sketchbooks and drawing something from
life each day
|
|
Family Pets make useful subjects as they tend to sit around a lot -
waiting to be drawn! This is a very fast pen and ink sketch of my sadly departed cat Cosmo It's informed by having drawn him many times before - so that I know what the key lines which need to be included (Pen and ink; Katherine Tyrrell) |
"Plein Air Painting"
"en plein air" is a French term. It's frequently used to describe
painting from life in the open air and out of doors and away from the studio.
Devoted plein air painters keep painting whatever the weather!
 |
| Artists Sketching in the White Mountains by Winslow Homer (1836-1910) 1868, oil on panel, 24.1 × 40.3 cm, Portland Museum of Art |
It's also sometimes used as a euphemism for painting nature and the natural
world.
It mainly developed during the nineteenth century. The practice of paintings
landscapes 'on the spot' became possible as technology advanced and allowed
artists to use tube paint - rather than paint in bladders.
There are
- numerous groups of painters devoted to plein air painting around the world - and some periodically host exhibitions.
- individual painters who make a career and develop a reputation for painting landscapes plein air - and some even record the process on Instagram! (see below)
The sketching equivalent in towns and cities is called "Urban Sketching".
Other references:
- There is a succinct glossary entry defining "plein air" on the Tate Gallery's website
The French term plein air means out of doors and refers to the practice of painting entire finished pictures out of doors
- En Plein Air | The Art Story - provides a good narrative about how it developed over time.
- There's a good description of plein air painting and how it came about on the website of the Plein Air Painters of America.
- British Plein Air Painters - a group of professional artists based in the UK that share a passion for painting outdoors, in front of the subject, and capturing the essence of their surroundings with freshness and energy.
- Plein Air Painter has an article about Pete Brown who's known for painting outside whatever the weather.
