It's Plein Air Painting Time!

Yes, plein air painting in Nancy Lewis Park, just as we used to do during the Pandemic.

All around are the green leaves of summer, and nearby the wonderful water lilies float gracefully in the pond. It's a scene the French impressionists would have loved, and it was all ours. On this lovely Tuesday morning, the various painters who love painting outdoors, or painting en plein air, were taking advantage of the beautiful weather to capture the moment. For some painters, and I am often one, life in the studio is mostly where it happens. The plein air versus studio painting debate took place among the French painters as well, with Monet and Renoir firmly out and about, while Manet and Degas were in their studios. Though I admit that these days the type of printing work I do can't be accomplished well outdoors, I told myself it should not interfer with enjoying some wonderful moments with my fellow artists in one of my favorite places. So, off I went that morning to Nancy Lewis Park.

Rita Scafidi working on a landscape.

"A day of plein air painting is like a vacation to a beautiful place." Rita Scafidi

This is definitely the feeling that one gets when going out into a beautiful setting like Nancy Lewis Park. Yes, there are homes all around, which can be interesting subjects themselves, but there are magnificent views of Pike's Peak, a lily pond with ducks, waterworks, and wonderful trees. As well, while there is some human traffic, as people walk their dogs or just themselves, it is remarkably quiet on a weekday morning. This allows one to focus on the subject that is being painted and ask questions about what is being seen and represented with the paints. That feeling is echoed by other painters.

"Plein air painting is such a joy for me, because I really get to study the landscapes, the light effects, the colors, and the lay of the land before me. I marvel at the creation we live in, and as a painter, I get to translate that into a painting." Anne Dye

Anne Dye is the person who coordinates and schedules the places where the painters will meet to paint on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. She then informs all of the people on the PAAC (Plein Art Artists of Colorado) list for Colorado Springs, as well as any others who ask for the schedule. Depending on the location which ranges from public places like parks to private gardens, the group may be seven to ten people, maybe more in cases where we are at a place like Rock Ledge Ranch or Fox Run Park. The main thing is being in nature and engaging it with the mind, so that the experience doesn't just pass before our eyes hardly noticed like so many things in modern life.

Even though there is a lot of talk about landscape, the outdoors presents a variety of other types of choices. If one is a fan of botanicals, as I am, the lure of a beautiful blossom is irresistible. The challenge though can be not trying to do a photographic likeness (photographs do a pretty good job of that), but thinking of how to interpret it in a very different way, which can lead to some interesting outcomes.

I played around with the lily image on a piece of black paper that I had stuck in a little accordian sketch book. First element to deal with was the use of color pencil not paint, so my work is en plein air, but it is not painting. Then, of course, everything changes when one goes from a light or white surface to the depth of black. One can decide which elements to keep and which don't work well. Here I decided to leave out any attempt to show water between the lily pads and just let the lilies float in black space. One of the great things about painting outdoors is that things change as time passes. The lovely lily I photgraphed opened slowly as the morning sun grew more intense, so I had to compensate for that as I drew. Regardless of results, it was great fun

"Fresh air, friends, a pochade box - life is good." Miriam Brock, plein air artist.

Miriam Brock at the easel at Glen Eyrie, one of the favorite places for plein air painting

Glen Eyrie is another place that we all love to go to as it has extraordinary vistas, rose gardens, rock formations, and a castle! A few years ago during the Pandemic, a few of us who were used to doing life drawing twice a week, decided to beat the closed in conditions most felt trapped in by going out to paint. We could stand far enough apart to meet the stated requirements, yet we could still talk to one another. Glen Eyrie was one of the many settings we loved to paint in. It was particularly nice to know that the administration at Glen Eyrie liked the ambience created by having the painters about.

A painting by Rita Scafidi done en plein air at Nancy Lewis Park

Now for those who would like to engage in these activities, Anne Dye provides this information: "The PAAC group is statewide for Colorado, and we are the Colorado Springs group. People don't have to be a member to paint with us. Just join in." To that end I am attaching the schedule for August 2025 which has all the information needed to participate.

We all hope to see any other of our fellow painters soon in one of the beautiful places on this schedule.

PAAC August 2025.pdf

Download PDF • 297KB

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