CharlesMuench Title: Poppy Fields oil on linen Size unframed: 18" x 24" x 34"

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What is Plein Air Painting
We paint from life in order to learn how to see.
If you can paint light, you can paint everything
under the sun.--Frank LaLumia, PAPA Signature
Member   Painting from life is a pursuit unlike
any other painting technique. It challenges
artists to concentrate every sensory nerve on the
information in front them. They absorb it all,
from sight to sound, from temperature to
atmosphere, and then channel those feelings from
head to hand, re-creating the vision in paints on
paper or canvas. The roots of painting from life
are found in 19th-century Europe. Englishman John
Constable believed the artist should forget about
formulas and trust his own vision in finding
truth in nature. To find that truth, he made
sketches outdoors, then elaborated on them in the
studio. Around the same time in France, in a
small village outside Paris called Barbizon, a
group of artists focused their attentions on
peasant life and the natural world surrounding
it. Like Constable, Francois Millet and Gustave
Courbet challenged conventions of the day,
choosing everyday subjects rather than the
traditional cliches and presenting them in
natural settings, the information for which came
from sketches made in the field. These realists,
as they came to be called, laid the groundwork
for the mid-19th century revolution in France
that took painting from life to its logical
conclusion. Lead by Edouard Manet, Claude Monet,
Edouard Degas, Auguste Renoir, et. al. the
impressionists espoused the belief that you
should trust your eyes. Using newly developed
theories of how the eye physically registers
color, they maintained that what you saw in
nature was not form, but rather light on form.
And light could be conveyed by color. To prove
their theories, they took their paint tubes and
easels outdoors, where they re-created the world
as colors which suggested light. Rebuffed at
first for what appeared to be unfinished
paintings, the impressionist vision soon became a
standard for truthfully conveying the outdoor
experience. Painting en plein air (in the open
air) would forever change how we see the world.
Artists in the United States were attracted to
the concept, and many, like Californian Guy Rose,
traveled to France to study with Monet. Suddenly,
places with remarkable light were of particular
interest to painters, including the both the East
and West Coasts, and the American Southwest,
where painting colonies formed. The goal of
teachers and students alike was to capture the
light and colors peculiar to the place. Today,
painting from life is a pursuit that continues to
challenge the finest artists in the world, and no
group is better known for upholding that credo
than the Plein-Air Painters of America.
http//www.p-a-p-a.com/whatis.html
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CharlesMuenchTitle Poppy Fields oil on
linen Size 18" x 24"
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CharlesMuenchTitle Serpentine Tides
Technique oil on linen Size 32" x 40"
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NedMuellerTitle Pelican Cove Technique oil
on linen - alla prima Size unframed 12" x 16"
I was moved by the bright, sun-filled atmosphere
of the ocean and land and shrubs at Laguna Beach.
The contrast between the water and yellow cliffs
was lovely."
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DavidJenksTitle Elk Coast Evening
Technique oil on canvas Size 24" x 30" I
was inspired by the setting sun reflected off the
coastal cliffs and the atmosphere in the early
spring.
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LindyDuncanTitle Carmel Beach Cypress
Technique oil on board Size 12" x 16" I
never tire of the wonderful cypress trees set
against the sea at the end of Ocean Avenue in
Carmel. Each one has personality."
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FrankGannonTitle Knights Valley Technique
oil on board Size 12" x 16" I painted this
scene at sunset as part of a series of four
paintings.
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John CosbyTitle "Afternoon Glow" Serigraph
27" x 36"
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John CosbyTitle "Lamp Post Lane"Hand Pulled, 
Limited Edition Serigraph  S/N24" x 36"   
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John CosbyTitle "Seaside Morning" Oil on
Canvas48" x 60"  
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John CosbyTitle "Ice, Water Stone" Oil on
Canvas16" x 24"