Beautiful Landscape Painting Outdoors: Mastering Plein Air

by Michael Chesley Johnson

Outdoor painting tips and more from the best landscape painters working today.

Many painters enjoy working outdoors when the weather is good, but they also need to know how to deal with it when the weather changes! This book includes the best instruction on the special challenges of painting landscapes outdoors from a variety of the best plein-air artists working today in all major media—oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache. It

- Materials, site selection, and practical tips
- Values, shapes, composition, color, and elements of landscape painting
- Bringing outdoor studies back into the studio
- Complete start-to-finish demonstrations
- Hundreds of gorgeous images
- A wealth of knowledge from a variety of instructors

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

About the author

One of the country's top plein air painters, Michael works in oil and pastel in the American Southwest, coastal Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. He has been an invited artist to many national plein air painting events over the years and has competed in challenging locations such as the Grand Canyon.

Elected a Master Pastelist by Pastel Artists Canada in 2008, he is a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society and the Pastel Society of America. He is the author of Beautifuli Painting Outdoors: Mastering Plein Air and several other books. A long-time contributor to Pastel Journal, The Artist's Magazine, Watercolor Artist and PleinAir magazine, he teaches painting workshops across the US and seasonally in New Mexico and Maine, where he has studios.

Reviews

[Sonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic reference for plein air painters, and is different than other books I've read on plein air painting. I've been plein air painting on and off for the past 12 years, and while I feel competent at doing it, I'm always interested in learning how other painters approach it, and this book delivers on that, IMO.

For one thing, MC Johnson's book features painters working in almost every medium, not just oil painters, which is refreshing (I'm a pastelist, so learning some tips from other pastelists on how they approach their paintings, and what gear they use, was helpful). In addition, a variety of painting styles from the various artists are presented, so there's something for everyone.

I'm wanting to get back into oil painting, and I always find it interesting and useful to see what pigments other artists include in their color palettes, what mediums they use, and of course - their field set-ups.

The book covers the usual elements of any successful painting: composition & design, value, discussions on color and examples of how cool vs. warm colors are used in the shadows and sunlit areas, which was something I've not remembered seeing discussed quite this way.

I also appreciate that, while Johnson is himself a successful painter, this book actually doesn't focus on his own work. One thing I loved, however, is his discussion and demos of finishing a PA piece in the studio, and pointing out the value of on-location studies for the sole purpose of creating a larger studio piece, and how he worked through that.

I feel this book is a great companion to contemporary landscape painting books by Michael Albala (love both of his books!), Kevin McPherson, and of course, the classics that we all own (or should): Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting, and Edgar Payne's Composition of Outdoor Painting.

While I read this book over the course of a couple of days right after I bought it, my plan is of course to re-read it regularly.