HARBRON Plein air

Berwyn ( Welsh ) = snowy summit Looking south over the Berwyns, mid-Wales (no snow today) Fabulous day with my plein air watercolour set-up. I clipped a Bockingford® watercolour block (size: 9 x 12 inch / 310 x 230 mm) to the easel board and found that the holes in the clips were perfect size to hold my wash brush.   Bulldog clips used on plein air set-up

"Evocative retrospective of the late Scottish landscape painter, James Morrison (1932-2020). Particularly emotive is the documented final years of the artist's life as he experienced fading eye sight and the impact on his painting. Gripping storytelling, beautiful cinematography and soundtrack, all punctuated with breathtaking examples of Morrison's work, not to mention the words from the great man himself. A must see for all art lovers!" ★★★★★

I am pleased to reveal a new addition to the Harbron Plein Air range: a panel box for storing/carrying your miniature 5 x 7 inch panels.   5 great reasons why I take this box on location:  Small canvas boards, or miniatures, are great for warming-up. Rather than jump straight into my main piece, I might do a miniature just to get my mind and ideas focused and my hands loosened up. Sometimes my miniatures will be the main piece. I might complete a run of miniatures between rain showers or when I don't have a lot of time, or when I simply want to focus on a small study. Miniatures are great to do at the end of a painting session, to use up what paint I have left on the palette, whilst making the most of any time I have left.  Miniatures are super portable. I can reduce my kit to 2 paint brushes, a limited palette of 3-4 tubes of paint, small airtight palette, my medium and a rag. Off I go! At such a small size, I can get away without an easel - I'll just hold the board...

  The Artist Sketching (1922) by John Singer Sargent Oil on canvas, plein air The expression 'plein air' comes from the french phrase en plein air , meaning 'in the open air' and is popularly used to describe painting outdoors, or a painting that has been completed on location.  "Everything that is painted directly and on the spot always has strength, a power, and a vivacity of touch one cannot recover in the studio... Three strokes of the brush in front of nature are worth more than two days of work at the easel" - Eugène Boudin Purists might only apply the term plein air  to work that was completed entirely outdoors. Others might accept a final touch-up in the studio. Either way, it is desirable to maintain the fresh, immediate brush strokes that typically characterise a good plein air painting.  

Artists sketching in the White Mountains (1868) by Winslow Homer Oil on panel You might hear a number of pronunciations: 'plan-air', 'ple-ner' or 'playn-air', the latter being the most common anglicised form. However, if you want to be faithful to French authenticity, say 'ple-ner'