PleinAir Magazine – August-September 2026

Summary

Summertime, an oil painting that won the PleinAir Salon's $15,000 grand prize, sits on the cover of PleinAir Magazine's August-September 2026 issue, which marks the Salon's 20th anniversary with a full winners' gallery.

PleinAir Magazine's August-September 2026 issue celebrates the 20th anniversary of the PleinAir Salon, opening with a gallery of this year's winners led by the $15,000 grand prize painting Summertime. Features profile artists working in the field, including a piece on how one painter builds a body of work for a gallery show, and a look at painting the American landscape. A travel feature follows painters working abroad, while other features cover studio practice and the business of selling work. The issue also includes competition news and a report on the Salon's two decades of results.

Regular columns keep the instruction coming for working painters. A section on composition explains how to lead the eye through a landscape, and another covers colour mixing for outdoor light. Practical pages cover materials and field equipment, and the issue includes a directory of workshops and events for readers planning to paint on location. Later pages gather competition results and artist news from the Salon's anniversary year.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story / Salon / Features

p.4 · PLEIN AIR SALON WINNERS (20th anniversary)
The issue marks the 20th anniversary of the PleinAir Salon with a gallery of winners, headed by the $15,000 grand prize painting Summertime. The spread shows the top works from this year's Salon. Enter the PleinAir Salon before the next deadline with your strongest landscape.

p.20 · BUILDING A BODY OF WORK
A feature profiles how one painter builds a cohesive body of work for a gallery show, covering selection and sequencing of pieces. The piece tracks the path from studio to gallery wall. Pick five works that share one theme before your next show.

p.26 · PAINTING THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE
This feature looks at painting the American landscape, covering how artists approach wide open terrain and light on location. It focuses on field work across US scenery. Sketch one wide landscape on site this week.

p.30 · PAINTING ABROAD
A travel feature follows painters working abroad, showing how location and light change when painting outside the US. The piece covers foreign locations and on-site setups. Plan one painting trip abroad around a single location.

▸ Instruction / Regulars

p.44 · COMPOSITION: LEADING THE EYE
A composition section explains how to lead the viewer's eye through a landscape, using placement and value to guide attention. Apply one eye-leading device in your next plein air study.

p.? · COLOUR MIXING FOR OUTDOOR LIGHT
A practical page covers colour mixing for outdoor light, showing how to match changing conditions on location. Mix one outdoor light palette before you start painting today.

p.? · WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS DIRECTORY
A directory gathers workshops and events for readers planning to paint on location, with listings for upcoming classes. Book one plein air workshop from this directory this season.

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Editor's Take

The 20th-anniversary Salon gallery is the clear highlight: a $15,000 grand prize and a full winners' spread give this issue a collectible, reference quality that outlasts the month. The travel and American landscape features add scope, and the composition instruction is genuinely usable on site. The weakness is the business and studio material, which is thinner and drifts toward promotional workshop listings rather than hard reporting on selling work. Several pages are taken up by competition news and directory filler, and the non-Salon features lack the specificity of the winners' section. Best for plein air painters who enter competitions and travel to paint; studio-only artists can browse this one.

Strengths
• $15,000 grand prize Salon winners' gallery anchors the issue
• 20-year Salon retrospective adds reference value
• Usable composition instruction for field painters
• Travel feature covers painting abroad on location

Weaknesses
• Business and studio coverage is thin and promotional
• Workshop and directory pages fill space over reporting

Verdict: Recommended — The Salon winners' gallery is worth it for competition-minded plein air painters.