En plein air — with crayons
En plein air is just a fancy name for making art outside. For me it started when I was a child. My parents always bought me a new box of crayons in the springtime, around mid-April. It was always the Crayola box of 64 with a built-in sharpener and it meant that the season for playing outside was upon us kids. As soon as we could abandon our parkas and don our spring jackets, my playmates and I would roam the neighbourhood, ensconcing ourselves on front porches with crayons, drawing pads and colouring books.
A new box of crayons was a sensual experience. I still remember the waxy smell and beautiful spectrum of colours, the blunted tips lined up and sticking above the cardboard liner. Those hues that came in that now vintage box of 64 still inform my use of colour today.
A box of perfect potential
I never used the crayons right away, though. I waited a week or so. They were too precious. But I would open the box whenever I could and admire them. The colours were delicious and I fantasized about what I would draw. Too soon the tips would be rounded down and the crayons eventually become just nubs if they didn’t break first. But for a week they were perfect and represented so much potential and anticipated creative pleasure.
When I finally got down to it, I drew the flowers in the yard as they bloomed starting with Purple Crocus. And then the blossoming apple tree with robins singing in it. I drew my dog, Sparky, a black, white and brown fox terrier mix. Then the beautiful and unexpected wildflowers – Dandelion, Violet, Clover, Daisy. I drew the birds as they returned in the spring, one by one. I drew landscapes, the beach, vacant lots, and my street. I drew my family. By drawing everything I learned so much, all with my box of 64.
Now decades have passed. I recently wrote to a friend of 50 years that now that I’m older all I want to do is make art and go outside. She replied “Yes, me too.” Aging for some people means license to unleash your creative urges pent up for an entire working life and permission to play outside again. Fortunately, en plein air season is nearly upon us and I will be sketching and painting outdoors soon, but with watercolours, my medium of play now.
More than any other type of artwork, en plein air engages all of the senses, encourages you to focus — to be right there right now, and free up your work by quickly capturing immediate impressions. There’s no time to overthink. “Mistakes” become opportunities for further artistic exploration.
Making art outside helps you see all things unique and beautiful in your environment, brings you back to yourself, recapturing the spirit of a child with a box of crayons in the springtime waiting for the world to be born again. I highly recommend it no matter what your skill level, because it makes you feel alive, eyes opened to an infinity of colour, 64 and beyond.
