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We Want You to Enlist.

Dear Painters,

The Plein Air Force was founded by the publishers of PleinAir magazine to promote plein air painting worldwide. We believe painting has brought great joy and personal satisfaction to each of us, so we want to share plein air painting with the world.

Furthermore, the words “plein air” are not yet on the lips of the world, and this effort will increase awareness everywhere.

Your role, should you decide to enlist, is to seek opportunities to spread the word by speaking to groups, giving talks at schools and community centers, and inventing ways to showcase plein air painting.

We have created two websites. One, PleinAirForce.com, is for you, the existing plein air painter. It is designed to give you battle plans, missions, and tools. This website has ideas about spreading the word, scripts you can use, stickers and brochures for your easel, even posters you can customize to promote speaking engagements. This website is not for consumers, but for members of the Plein Air Force only.

The other website, called PaintOutside.com, has a simple, memorable name because most people can’t spell, pronounce, or even remember the term “plein air.” That site offers free video painting lessons, a directory of artists who teach, a directory of “painting buddies” so people can find someone to paint with (you should register to be found as a teacher or a paint buddy). It also has a directory of events, which is a place to put your shows and workshops. It’s all free.

Any time you sense someone might be interested in learning, give them a brochure (it’s in the “Tools” section) or have them take a picture of the sticker you place on your easel (which takes them to the website). The goal is to drive people to PaintOutside.com so we can give them ENCOURAGEMENT, free lessons, tips and tools to start painting, and a directory of painters in their area willing to teach. Each of these items can include your custom information so they can also find you. Suddenly you’ll have future students and buyers of your works.

We have also created a 40-minute documentary called Painting Outside the Lines, which is the story of plein air painting. The video includes encouragement at the end to help others believe they too can learn to paint. This is designed so you can speak at an event, then hit the “play” button and let the DVD do the hard work. You can view it on this website, along with some fun videos and mission orders we’ve made for you.

The goal is to get every plein air painter in the world participating. If every painter shares painting, we will bring the joy of plein air as a hobby to more people. Everyone will benefit, including you.

Please enlist today and encourage your friends to do so as well. And when you meet people who say they “have no talent, can’t draw a straight line” encourage them, send them to PaintOutside.com, and we’ll give them all the tools they need to get excited about plein air.

Thanks,

Eric Rhoads
Publisher
PleinAir Magazine