Only Thing Predictable in Plein Air Painting is Fun.
San Simeon Vista Point
The Rollercoaster of Plein Air Painting: Joy, Chaos, and … Wind.
There’s something wild and wonderful about plein air painting that studio work just can’t touch. Maybe it’s the adrenaline of not knowing what’s going to result, or the way the wind threatens to take your easel over the cliff edge mid-brushstroke. Either way, it’s always an adventure—and not always a successful one.
The scene that inspired
Recently, I found myself contemplating a paint off the vista points in San Simeon. I hadn’t planned to paint that day, but the fog cleared in the late afternoon, and the light took a turn for the better. The leftover haze gave that pearlescent glow you only get near the ocean at certain times of day. So I grabbed the backpack and decided hit it.
The most exciting moment for me is right before starting to paint…the possibilities are endless!
Here’s the thing: plein air painting is one part art and two parts saying f*** it. You never really know what you’re going to get. The wind might dry your paint too fast, your paper might buckle, or the fog might roll in and swallow the view entirely, preventing your paint from drying at all. Sometimes you walk away with a painting that surprises you—in a good way. Other times, well… let’s just say the recycling bin gets fed.
Keeping up with the light can be hardest challenge!
But that’s the beauty of it. There’s a certain freedom in not being too concerned with the final result. You’re out there responding to the world in real time, not overthinking every brushstroke (at least not entirely). As cliche as it sounds, it’s more about the experience than the outcome, right? Maybe it’s about the smell of the salt air, or the buzz of bees in nearby wildflowers, or the crash of waves below, or the way you accidentally stuff your brush in Cerulean instead of Cobalt and decide to roll with it. Rarely, if ever, is the result what one expected, but somehow it’s always fun.
Plein air horizon match.
