Welcome to

by Linda Carson

big black pig studio
98 King St. N., Waterloo Ontario Canada
www.bigblackpig.com

En Plein Air

Painting on-site in the Great Outdoors only became practicable in the 19th century with the invention of paint tubes. Before that, paint was made fresh or stored in containers such as pig's bladders...not backpack-friendly. The Barbizon school landscape painters, the Impressionists and the Group of Seven are all identified with the practice of painting "en plein air." (The expression comes from the French for fresh air.)

Monet was especially passionate about painting en plein air to capture the most fleeting effects of the changing light. Reportedly, he took several canvases into the field to paint his series of haystacks. As the lighting changed from daylight to sunset to dusk, he moved from one canvas to the next to the next.

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Loosely translated, that means:
"Please don't copy this material or redistribute it in some other form, for any reason. This is my livelihood."