En Plein Air Painting & Drawing

This summer I've been taking my painting supplies outdoors to paint flowers and draw around the city. The weather in Toronto has been perfect for drawing and painting en plein air!

Keep reading to learn more about en plein air painting and drawing and to see two pink flower drawings I made in July 2019. 

What's En Plein Air? 

En Plein Air translates as "in the open air" in French and stands for painting outdoors. En Plein Air is about getting outside of the indoor studio to experience making art in the landscape.

Artists have long gone outdoors to paint and sketch but it become popular in the mid 1800s with the Impressionists. The invention of easy to transport paint tubes and box easels (painting easels that fold up and easy to carry) made outdoor painting more popular. 

Painting outdoors allowed artists to capture light and color in different ways and inspired different art movements including French Impressionism, the Hudson River School in New York State and the Canadian Group of Seven. 

Canada has a long tradition of landscape painting. Maybe because most of our country is the wild outdoors? En Plein Air painting is especially popular in Canada in the summertime. 

 

Making Art En Plein Air Around Toronto

Since spring I’ve been creating colorful artworks of flowers and grass in my art studio. In my studio I work mostly with colorful acrylic paints on canvas and panel. 

With the beautiful weather in Toronto, I decided it’s time to go outside and paint from life.  For the last month I’ve been taking my sketchbook and art materials outdoors to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather in Toronto. 

Enjoying Toronto in Summer by Drawing & Painting En Plein Air

In my favorite sketchbook I've been drawing and painting with regular lead pencils and watercolors. It's been great to draw and paint flowers and trees outside. 

The Toronto summer is sweet but short compared to winter. I try to be outside as much possible for my art, workouts, meals and anything else! 

Shown here are two drawings of pink flowers on paper made in July 2019. The brightly colored pinks, yellows and greens of the leaves and blossoms were inspiring to paint. 

I hope to continue daily painting and drawing outdoors while the weather stays warm in Toronto.