Which is better: painting outside or in studio

This 9x12 oil on canvas was painted from a photograph in the studio. "Rocky Run" is a creek that only runs full when there has been a heavy rain. It goes deep into the woods of the Mississenwa Recreation Area in Indiana and starts as a dry limestone rock bed. Few streams in this flat part of Indiana have the ruggedness to look like a Montana fly fishing stream. I have been out to the stream three times this year after a rain to see if there was any water in it and not until one day this fall did it have enough water to make it interesting.

Usually I paint in Plein Air on location but sometimes I will paint from a photograph such as this painting. Is one better than the other? Each has its advantages and disadvantages. In this case, the weekend was rainy and wet and I wanted to paint a landscape, so painting from a photograph became an option. In the studio, a painting can also be developed more slowly and "fiddled with" over the course of several weeks, months or even years for some artists. Although this one was done in a few hours, I had the option of coming back to it.

Working outside, you must work quicker and record the light and color that is fleeting. It is harder in this respect and the brush strokes are usually looser outside due to the speed of the process. Some people say Plein Air paintings appear unfinished. But outside, some say the colors are brighter and fresher. The shadows also don't appear in finished works as dark as they can sometimes when a painting is from a photograph. Bottom line is, if you like the painting – it really doesn't matter if it was painted from a photo or from life.

It's rained so much that I haven't had enough light to photography the small still lifes I painted last week, so be patient – this week will be light on the number of postings. See my other paintings at www.avonwaters.com.