How I am Approaching Plein Air April

thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

April 1

Hi friends! Happy April 1st! I hope you survived the day without falling victim to any April Fools Day shenanigans. I've done well so far! Today is also the start of the Plein Air April or #PleinApril art challenge when you paint a landscape from life every day during April. I have wanted to try this challenge since I learned about it a couple years ago. It's cold in Maine for much of April so I could never see myself sticking to painting outside every day this time of year. Still, after talking with Sarah Burns about it I decided I could do the daily painting challenge with some modifications. I'll share those in a minute but first, here is today's sketch.

I have been noticing the pussy-willows over the past two weeks and I knew they would go by soon so it was now or never if I wanted to paint them. They were so pretty being backlit by the sun today and I thought it would be a simple start to the challenge. Ha! What I thought would take 10 minutes took half an hour but I like the result. I am glad I didn't start with the complex pile of rocks I saw! Here is the photo I took on my walk this morning. Feel free to paint it if you like!

The first thing to do before beginning an art challenge is to ask yourself "What do I want to get out of this?" Having your 'why' will help you stick with it, or get back on the horse if you miss a day. Here are my reasons for doing the challenge.

Step 1: Set your intentions:

I want to get better at drawing.
I want to be outside more.
I want to spend more time painting.
I want to improve my speed.
I want to understand color and light in the landscape more.

Step 2: Make a plan and allowances to ensure success. These are my "rules" for lack of a better word.

Draw every day, even if it is just for 10 minutes (this is the nonnegotiable rule.)
Work outside from life whenever possible,
Drawing a scene looking out a window is fine (it's going to snow this week.)
Painting from inside my vehicle is fine too.
Take my own reference photos so if I must work inside, I can my own reference.

I think I can stick to my above "rules" so I can meet my PleinAirApril objectives but if I can't I have one little trick up my sleeve and that is to use the Warrior Painters random landscape generator where it will give you a random photo of a landscape from Unsplash to draw. I have used this for small warm-ups and it is fun, and I don't feel precious about the little paintings because it's not something I picked out. Sometimes overwhelm kicks in and it's hard to decide what to paint. This little "cheat" will save me on days when I am overbooked and under-motivated. It's not cheating, neither is painting once a week or every other day. You do what works for you. The goal is to paint, not to make yourself miserable so you burn out in a week.

Do you need help with Landscape Painting?

If you are new to landscape painting and like watercolor, I am putting my beginner Watercolor Landscape Workshop on sale for 40% off for the entire month of April. If you like the idea of landscape painting but want some guidance this course will take you through the basics. There are 20 lessons in the course including breaking down landscape elements like skies, trees, and rocks and we paint 4 full landscapes together. You could challenge yourself to finish it in a month or use it as a supplement to your #PleinApril. You don't have to finish the class in a month though, you get lifetime access so you can take your time and return to it as much as you like in the future.