A field sketch is any effort made to paint out of doors from a scene before the easel. Also called plein-aire painting, or "plain air" from the french Barbizon days, field paintings offer a fresh and visually accurate rendering of a scene. The advantage to field painting is that it requires close observation and thus one achieves a greater appreciation for what is actually there, as opposed to working from a photograph of the scene in some faraway studio. It usually takes about four days outdoors to really see what is going on, as mental biases from life indoors need to be shed. Plein-air painting helps to remove the "scales" from one's vision and cements a deeper connection with nature. I believe that serious painting of any scene requires working directly on site as a preliminary to any further explorations.
A field painting takes about two hours to complete. Any longer and the sun will change the scene dramatically and one winds up painting a different piece all over again. My field sketches are normally 9" x 12 " because that is what I can complete in two hours. I try to do a complete painting on site, in one sitting. The obstacles to success include wind, insects, lightning, animals, thirst, or just poor painting. Field work is messy. Oil paint gets all over skin and clothing. One in five field paintings are a success. Despite the difficulty, I treat them as one more necessary step in preparing for painting in the studio.
