Making things more special with french words.

On Location



This little color study was done a couple weeks ago.  It was done on location in Diamond Fork Canyon with John Hughes and Seth Winegar (my brother.)   A large quantity of the land in the area is owned by Robert Redford (of Hollywood stardom.)  It is a beautiful area, and worth the road-trip for sure, especially with the recent fall colors. 

This unrefined painting was done to capture the colors and values, which is hard to do from a photograph.  From this study, and the photos I took of the area, I will eventually complete a studio piece.  But this is not the point of this post:  Overuse of french phrases in painting.

The last decade or so has seen the increase of many French words in art (and Italian for that matter.)  For some reason taking a mundane phrase like "Painting on Location" or "Direct Painting" and changing it to "En Plein Air" or "Alla Prima" makes it more romantic and educated, and by extension more "legitimate." 

Recently I have also noticed a rebellion against such arbitrary linguistic assignations.  Artists who refuse to use such phrases.  Most recently I read something by Trend Gudmundson alluding to the overuse of such phrases.  To these artists I applaud.  You may add one more to your ranks!