Canada Paints Plein Air is set for Aug. 8 in Fish Creek Provincial Park and organizers are hoping to attract local and international painters to the one-day event that saw just over 50 artists in its inaugural year in 2025. “We’re trying to make Calgary and area the plein air mecca that it should be,” said Doug Levitt, plein air artist. “The two tiers of the competitive side of it are the wild card competition, which is the free-for-all, anybody can join, but the higher end is for the more seasoned (artists) and we’re attaching a big prize to that because we’re trying to attract plein air painters from around the globe.” The event is a multi-tiered competition designed to allow anybody participate, right from a rank beginner all the way up to a seasoned professional. Levitt is one of the judges of the competition who will be looking for technical elements like drawing ability and how an artist conveys light. But he says what’s more important is how an artist expresses their painting technique. “How you lay the paint down, what your compositions are going to be like and most important is the feeling — did you capture the feeling of that scene in that painting and use all those techniques to do that, so that’s the big requirement.” Artist Michael Downs says he spends a lot of time painting in his back yard, setting up multiple stations and moves with the light. He’s a fan of plein air. “It’s French, meaning you’re painting outside,” he said. “But it sounds way better to say it in French — plein air, that sounds so much more cachet.” Randy Neufeld is enrolled in the wild card competition and says he loves being outdoors painting what he sees in real time. “It helps me in my studio painting, painting from life out here and this amazing scenery,” he said. “It definitely helps my studio painting so it’s a great relationship.” Neufeld uses water-based acrylic paint and remembers his first time trying plein air. “I went out to Forgetmenot Pond with my brand new setup, my brand new equipment,” he said. “And I painted and it was it was October, September and my paint literally froze on the canvas. I was like ‘oh my gosh, this is going to be a lot more difficult than I thought.’” Janet Armstrong, who has been painting plein air for 30 years, loves to be out in all seasons to capture the moment on her canvas. She says competitions like this one are challenging. “It definitely puts the fire onto you knowing that you’re competing with other artists,” she said. “But if you can just focus on what in front of you and do the best that you can in about two hours, you’ll be okay. You become a better painter because you have to draw what you see, not what you think it should look like.” Learn more and register for the event here: www.canadapaintspleinair.com
