Plein air painting, quite literally translated from French, means to paint outdoors. But as an art form, it delves far deeper into the way that shadows and light play with the environment over a day outside.

Another unique aspect of plein air painting is that works are not expected to be completed during a session. For many artists, the process of visualizing through the medium of paint and brush is more important than creating a fully finished work of art.

“We are trying to create the illusion of three dimension. I can better paint when I’m seeing in three dimensions. The second I go to a photograph, I lose that singular advantage,” said artist Doug Levitt.

“So, the act and the tradition of plein air painting, outdoor painting from life, is to add to your visual library as an artist, and to understand the mechanics of light and the temperature of light and how it communicates itself on objects.”

For the past two decades, the practice of plein air has become a popular pastime for the public and a lucrative one for artists.

In the United States, a plein air painting circuit has created a significant economic impact for communities. But that opportunity to both grow the craft and the interest from international artists in Calgary hasn’t grown in the same way, said Levitt.

“I look at Calgary, and I go, why is it that Calgary with a desert 45 minutes that way, mountains 45 minutes that way… we’ve got beautiful parks throughout the city, amazing architecture. We’ve got ranch lands to the south of us with beautiful grain elevators, barns, you name it. We can paint beautiful rolling coulees, like we’ve got everything here,” he said.

“We should be a plein air mecca.”

Launching on Aug. 9, the inaugural Canada Paints Plein Air competition at Fish Creek Park is aiming to increase national awareness of Calgary as a premier destination for plein air painting, and of the art form amongst the public.

Plein air contest a year in the making

Victoria Zyluk, President of Canada Paints Plein Air, said that work has been ongoing for the past year to plan for the competition.

“We have a group of really dedicated people working on this, and they’re just brilliant and thankful to have everyone so committed and a shared vision. What our goals are for the Canada Paints Plein Air is threefold: to have a platform to showcase the talents of Alberta artists and eventually throughout Canada, and to second to the showcase the environment that we live in, that’s around us,” Zyluk said.

“Thirdly, it’s to create wellness in people in our community, so there’s a connection between plein air painting and the environment. Being outdoors, you’re using all your senses.”

The contest is offering cash prizes for winners, with $1,000 going to first place.

Zyluk said they wanted to increase the value of cash prizes for future contests, and that the 2025 prize amounts would serve as an incentive to get Canadian artists to participate in this year’s contest.

“We’re hoping to grow that prize money each year so that we can gain some of those international artists coming and realizing what an absolute plein air mecca Calgary is, and bring a lot more international attention to our city that way,” she said.

“But also that secondary thing is building that art community a lot more tighter than it already is. There’s a lot of plein air groups that have sprung up, and so we’re hoping to be one of the things that they can focus on during the year, and say ‘I’m working towards that thing.'”

No other art form is quite like what comes out of a plein air painting, and that is something to be celebrated, said Levitt.

“One of the best things about it is that you are experiencing it like you’re smelling it. You’re feeling the heat or the rain or the snow. I did a painting last year at an art residency in Banff in minus 30 weather, that will inform that painting. You will feel the cold coming out of that Canvas because the artist is freezing,” Zyluk said.

“A lot of artists are struggling with, they feel they’re too perfectionist oriented, they’re too detail oriented. They’re wanting to loosen up. Plein air is a fantastic way to do that, because you are limited by time, so you have to learn how to be more efficient with a brush stroke.”

The inaugural Canada Paints Plein Air contest runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Aug. 9 at Fish Creek Park. An art sale follows the contest at 3:30 p.m.

For more details, see www.canadapaintspleinair.com/events.html.