Introducing My Favorite Contemporary Plein Air Artist Marc Dalessio

Marc Dalessio is not only one of my favorite contemporary landscape artists but is also a faculty member of Florence Academy of Art. As a matter of fact, he is a role model and an inspiration to me as a plein air artist. Now I realize that even before I discovered Dalessio, what I pursued in plein air painting happened to have something in common with his practice. For instance, I loved to do quick oil sketches in authentic environment in order to distill beauty from reality. I never hesitated to go into places like a small Cuban restaurant to do oil sketches or paint figures while they were doing whatever they usually did in a totally natural situation. However, I was or am not as fast as he is to do an impromptu painting inside his car in an accidental traffic jam. As soon as I learned about what he was doing, I became very self-conscious in training myself in these skills and began to be clear about what I wanted to look for in my own art world. I also stole a lot of good ideas from him. For instance, I made my own guerrilla painting kit because he made his out of a cigar box. he is very generous with his creative ideas in his website http://www.marcdalessio.com/. You don't have to spend a fortune on luxurious art equipment. It is more fun to make them out of nothing. The following are some of his plein air works.