08/07/2026
Tanya here! 👋🏼
I’ve had this week off to participate in the Plein Air on the Yellowstone landscape painting event again, and thought to show you the only two that I’ve liked so far. (Lots of “throwaways” that I’ll gesso over for another painting at another time).
“Plein air” is French for “open air,” which simply means landscape painting in the actual outdoors, as opposed to in a studio where the lighting and climate is controlled.
The parameters of the event were that we had to stay within Park County, and we had no limitation on subject matter. I wandered all over - from the very southern part of the county in northern Yellowstone up to Wilsall and Clyde Park. The heat was definitely a factor (it quickens the drying time of the paint), and the smoke from wildfires either gave beautiful sunsets and sunrises or obscured the views altogether. So there were a few issues involved that were a challenge to be sure!
I’m mostly happy with these two paintings, although there’s a lot of things I would do differently given the chance.
Long before I was a tattoo artist, I was a painter doing freelance work, so it felt really good to get back to my roots! One of the things I find very beneficial about plein air is that seeing the colors and shapes as they truly are in nature affects how I do them in a tattoo. For example, I don’t use black in landscape tattoos because I don’t use it in plein air either. Instead, I mix colors to get “black” because it looks more realistic in nature and has more tonal value.
It’s very different being out there in the open air - watching the colors change throughout the day and the shapes and shadows change along with them, and seeing these things helps to translate landscapes with ink and needles on skin.
I’m grateful for the experience but I’m also looking forward to getting back to the shop again next week!
