Plein air painting comes from a French term meaning to paint out in the open air. I just recently started creating plein air's every now and then. I usually don't go for realism when I am painting a plein air. I feel it is practice to strengthen my eye at seeing things and trying to capture the essence of subjects and landscapes. Don't get me wrong however; I have seen many wonderful plein air paintings that I can only dream of painting. But my main focus in art is not this form of painting.