A Note from Eric Rhoads, publisher of PleinAir and Fine Art Connoisseur Magazines

“Discover How You Can Quickly And Easily Make Better Paintings — Guaranteed ... By Employing My New Discovery to Improve Your Painting Skills Without Leaving Your Home”

After Months of Covid Quarantine and Being STUCK INSIDE, I Discovered Something and Decided to Do It to GiveYou a Massive Improvement in Your Painting Skills and a Deeper Connection to the Artist Community.

Though this letter may take a couple of minutes to read, please read every word. I think you’ll find this discovery fascinating.
Dear Art-Loving Friends,

You and I may already know one another from our magazines, conventions, art instruction videos, painter events, and social media.

Or perhaps you’ve seen me on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube LIVE every day at noon. Or maybe we’re just meeting for the first time.

One way or the other, I want to share something I discovered entirely by accident during the COVID quarantine.
 
I also discovered a giant need that, once uncovered, will be one of those “aha” moments. It will make total logical sense as you slap your forehead and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Let me start out by saying that aside from being an art publisher and art marketing trainer, I’m a painter. But you don’t want to make the rookie mistakes I made or take the long, winding, uphill path I took to learn painting.

In fact, I want to save you the trouble. No one should go through that much time and pain to master painting. They say “no pain, no gain,” but I had “pain with no gain”!

Being a better painter should be easy, right? 

Well, it’s not. No matter what anyone tells you, the biggest secret of all is brush mileage. The more you paint, the better you will become.

But, sadly, that’s not entirely true. 

I know, because I spent a lot of years practicing bad painting, and instead of practice making me better, I was just getting better at painting badly.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I tried everything. 

I listened to everyone’s advice, but, looking back, I see I missed what I now call the exponential curve. It’s something I discovered during COVID that has turned out to be a learning phenomenon. 

You see, every day during quarantine, for the past 90-plus days, I have been giving people one-hour samples of art instruction videos I’ve produced. I’ve also been listening and talking to a lot of people.

I discovered that the people who stuck with the free lessons day in and day out, and painted along with the videos, started to see exponential growth in their painting. 

Many of these same people had been doing what I’d been doing. They thought they were on the right path, but had been practicing bad painting and reinforcing things that hurt their painting instead of helping it.

Is this making any sense? 

Their bad painting had either come from being self-taught and missing key foundational principles, or even through getting instruction from someone who was missing the important full set of foundational principles.

And the more I studied it, the more I realized it was a combination of things that included concentrated learning time, variety of subjects, observing things they never would have chosen for themselves, repetition, community interaction, and exposure to fresh ideas that were outside of their comfort zone.

You see, it turns out your comfort zone is the enemy of growth.

Being lulled into a false sense of security, even feeling pretty good about your painting, as I was, can actually prevent growth because you’re not feeling that growth is needed.

Sadly, many of us get stuck. 

We tell ourselves, “I’m happy where I am, I don’t need to get better as a painter” until the dreaded day hits when you hang up your brushes out of frustration.

It’s an old story. 

We love painting, we’re passionate every day, we paint a lot, and then we get cozy and comfortable with our painting. 

But suddenly, frustration sets in because we discover things we can’t figure out and problems we can’t solve. We hammer away at them day after day, but before long we give in, give up, put our paint gear on a shelf in the garage, and say, “This painting thing isn’t for me.”

Then you wake up 20 years later without having painted.

No one ever expects this to happen. 

Worse, you never really get as good as you want to be at painting.

This is exactly what happened to one of my daily viewers. He said he had given up out of frustration 20 years ago and my daily videos kicked him back into gear (thank goodness!). I could really identify with him because I have lived through this very thing myself.

I was excited about painting, and I thought I’d do it the rest of my life. Then that moment hit, frustration took over, and the effort was no longer worth the pain. 

“I’ll just put things away for a couple of months,” I told myself. Before long, years had passed.

All that time invested, and I had nothing to show but some below-average paintings. It was really disturbing for me. I feel lucky that I was able to come out of this “art coma.”
  • Are you at risk of falling into an art coma?
  • ​Are you feeling just a tiny bit frustrated about how your paintings are coming out?
  • ​Do you feel you’re being flooded with compliments from people “in the know,” or are people just trying to be nice?
  • ​Do you ever look at someone else's paintings and think, “I’m not sure I’ll ever get to that level”?
  • ​Do you find yourself trying and trying to conquer one or two little things, but they don’t seem to come together the way you want?
Look, it's not your fault when this happens to you. It’s not like there’s a manual on how to overcome these things.

But what if I could set you on fire with excitement about painting and growth and help bring you to a whole new level? 

What if I could give you something that will get you out of your comfort zone, stimulate you, and let you take advantage of the exponential growth discovery I made?

What if I could introduce you to something so out-of-the-box that your brain would hurt from all the great ideas you’re getting?

Stick with me a couple more minutes.

I Thought … Why Not Make This Discovery for Experiencing Growth Available to Everyone!!!

About 60 days into the quarantine, I jolted out of bed with an aha moment.

All the feedback I had been receiving, all the e-mails, calls, notes, daily broadcasts, interaction with artists, reading and responding to comments, had formulated some thoughts in my head that came together as a really crazy idea.

What if we created an online event that would help people see exponential growth? 

Would it be possible to set people on the path to become a better painter in just a few days, no matter what level they were stuck at? 

The more I thought about it, the more enthusiastic I got about the idea. 

After all, we have all been forced recently to spend a lot of time online. 

People who were not computer-savvy found themselves making Zoom calls, or attending online classes or painting sessions … things they were previously uncomfortable with.

Sometimes it's combining old ideas with new ones that turns out to make the really cool new ideas.

I asked myself...
  • What if I combined online learning…
  • ​With an event like my famous Plein Air Convention 
  • ​Build in the necessary community aspects so people feel connected…
  • Put it into a compressed time period for exponential learning
  • ​And then offer an opportunity for people to paint at the end of each day to “anchor” what they’ve learned so it’s not forgotten?
It would be like the rat-tat-tat of a machine gun of ideas, painting concepts, and information from some brilliant artists. A flood of learning, like a wall of water washing over you. You can’t help but learn and grow.

But pulling it off seemed almost impossible.

You know me. I’m a positive thinker. But I started feeling negative on this idea.

I knew I had to do it while the virus was still going on because people would have time to watch. And I knew I’d be competing with people wanting to get outside for summer. 

I also knew I could not get all these brilliant artists to leave the safety of their homes, get on airplanes, and meet up to provide all the content.

Then one of the guys on my team said it… 

“Eric, if this quarantine has done anything, it’s made us realize it's about the content, not the fancy production. We can pull this off without asking them to come in. We can find a way.”

That’s how we came up with PleinAir Live!

My first reaction, honestly, was that it was too late, too much of an undertaking, and to do it, we would have to do it fast. That meant we would have to drop everything else to plan, organize, and get the technology to work.

I got the team together on a Zoom call to discuss it. They were all on board for working 18-hour days for three weeks to pull it off.

But with people starting to come out of quarantine, it would be harder to get people to attend. 

Then I started seeing predictions about the virus resurging and some states recommending we stay at home again. I knew if I didn’t do it now, I might not be able to do it ever.

Once I got my team’s commitment on a date, we had to convince some of the top artists in the world to commit to participating.

Though I thought we would get resistance, Jill Carver said it best: “This quarantine has made me realize just how much I miss my students and my peers. PleinAir Live gives me a chance to feel connected to them again and to interact with them.”

Suddenly, top artists were telling me how excited they were to be part of it.

Then the light bulb went on…

I have had this dream of teaching a million people to paint. This could even help beginners, so I added a beginners’ day to the live virtual event concept.

And because I think plein air painting is so much fun, such a great lifestyle, and is the “new golf,” I decided we needed to get everyone who does plein air painting together.

Because people can’t get on airplanes anyway and some countries’ borders are closed, why not bring artists from all over the globe together to create one giant family of artists?

So, next thing you know, we had a logo, a website, a faculty lineup, and a sign-up process so people could begin registering. 

The day we announced the event, we broke all of our previous sales records for the number of registrations on the first day. We were amazed and encouraged that people really do want to do this!

I was relieved. 

What PleinAir Live Looks Like and How It Works

On July 15-18, we’ll provide a huge 4-day live broadcast on the Internet with the world's top instructors so you can stay home, feel safe, not get on a plane, not spend a ton of money, and get an exponential growth experience that could change your painting forever.

And for anyone new to plein air painting, we’re offering an optional beginners’ day on July 14 so we can teach all the concepts you need to hear about plein air painting and get you ready to go outdoors to paint.

What is a virtual conference?

It's a conference on your computer. You watch from home, and, if you want, you can make comments, ask questions, go on camera to meet other artists (if you have a camera on your laptop, computer, tablet, or phone). 

You don’t need to be pinned down. You can listen or watch on your phone while running errands, taking care of your family, or even at work. And if you can’t do that, you can watch a replay on your own time later. 

Oh, and good news. This will not be a Zoom call! We wanted much better quality than that. (We will use Zoom for the breakout rooms.)

What will the experience be like?

You go to your computer and you visit www.pleinairlive.com to sign up.

Then when the day comes, you go to your computer at 11:30 AM Eastern, open the e-mail we just sent you, and click on the website link. Pretty simple.

If you want, there’s a comment section where you can ask questions, interact with others, and fully participate in the event. 

If you have a camera on your computer, you can go into our breakout rooms to get acquainted with other artists around the globe who are also attending.

We’ll have speakers, artists doing demonstrations on video (made just for this and never to be repeated), more demos, critiques, roundtable discussions with artists, and more demonstrations. You can see the full list at the bottom of this e-mail, including some we just added.

Paint What You Learn

At the end of each day, if you choose to participate, we will provide you with a video image of a beautiful place to paint, including sound, and you can pretend you are outdoors painting. And others will be painting with you. Hundreds of others. But they don’t have to see you or your painting unless you choose to show it. This is the best way to paint what you learned.

What will the experience be like?

Chances are you already know the term plein air painting means going outside to paint on location. It’s a chance to be outside to see how color and light actually behave. It’s a powerful way to learn or improve painting.

According to Jean Stern, Director Emeritus of the Irvine Museum, “Plein air painting is the largest art movement in history.” In fact, he’ll tell you more about that in his presentation during PleinAir Live.

Because of this movement, there are painters going outside to paint in every state and almost every country. People are making friends and painting together. 

But this is the first time in history that painters from all over the world will be watching the same event, interacting with other plein air artists, and collaborating across the world in one place. 

This will be in the history books

PleinAir Live is the first virtual art conference in the world, and that is also historically significant. 

Though others have done Zoom workshops or painting, never before has the world of plein air painters (and those who want to be) come together in a single worldwide event. 

You will be part of history. At PleinAir Live, the world can come together, watch together, and paint together.

Though our annual Plein Air Convention sometimes brings in a few painters from other lands, the cost is prohibitive for most. But this will bring us together because of the reasonable cost. 

We have already heard of painters signing up to attend from every state and from over 30 countries. 

We’ve already seen registrations from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, England, Africa, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Australia, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, and many others. 

Some people have to stay up late, get up early, or watch in the middle of the night. Some are holding watch parties. 

Because we will be painting together, this will also be the world's largest paint-out (with all of us painting the same scene at one time.) Another thing for the history books.

And we don’t just do it to paint together. There is science behind it.

When you implement what you’ve learned within 12 hours of the instruction, you actually retain a higher percentage of what you’ve learned. So when you’re painting along, you’re actually cementing what you’re learning.

Remember when I mentioned exponential learning? The flood of information, combined with the concentrated time, the community, and the painting will make more stick with you. This is exactly what you need to help you grow as a painter.

PleinAir Live is a giant opportunity to learn and grow as an artist.

The best of the best in America are teaching at PleinAir Live, but I also wanted you to experience the best from some other countries. So we’ve added the top instructors from England, France, Australia, and Holland.

Here’s what I believe will happen to you when you attend...
  • You’ll become more enthusiastic about painting and plein air painting
  • ​You’ll pick up hundreds of tips from the top artists in the world
  • ​You’ll see exponential growth by implementing what you’ve learned at the end of each day
  • You’ll become a better painter
  • ​You’ll make new friends
  • ​You’ll discover fresh approaches to painting
  • ​If you’re stuck, you’ll get unstuck
  • ​Because it's early in the season, you’ll be creating better paintings before the season changes

Okay, So What’s the Cost for Overcoming My Lack of Growth and Improving My Painting? 

Lots of painters attending don’t have a growth problem; they just want to be part of this worldwide phenomenon. 

But if you’re not growing as a painter, you’re going backward, and you’ll get frustrated and either quit or spend the rest of your time being a frustrated painter.
Rather than having people pass along false compliments about your work … you know, ”pretty colors” or “interesting approach,” you’ll start hearing people say, “Who painted this? It’s amazing” or “That's an incredible painting — who did it?” They won’t believe it’s you.

After four days of concentrated learning, and from having the top instructors in the world flooding you with information and getting you out of your comfort zone, you’ll start to experience exponential growth.

1/10th the Cost of a Workshop or Convention Expenses

At PleinAir Live, you’re getting over 40 hours of training in four days. You could easily spend $3,000 to get that much training by purchasing videos.

You could easily drop $3,000 to attend the Plein Air Convention by the time you pay the ticket, airfare, hotel, rental car, meals, and other expenses (and more if you’re traveling internationally). 

PleinAir Live is 1/10th the cost.

There are three different levels. Each has different benefits, and some have very cool gifts.

No risk of infection.

We just canceled our annual Plein Air Convention because the risks were still too high. But with PleinAir Live, you’re mask-free, in your home, safe and sound. You’re watching on your computer, tablet, phone, or even on your TV. You’ll be an active participant and will feel connected to others, and you will learn a lot of new information that will help you become a better painter. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, please feel free to do so! :)

What If I Can’t Attend? Will You Do It Again or Sell Replays?

If you can’t make the dates, you can buy it now and watch the replay. But due to our agreement with the artists, this content is for PleinAir Live only and we cannot resell or reuse the content. This is designed for this moment in time when we’re in quarantine.

How Is It Possible There Is Limited Seating for an Online Event?

It’s complicated. We have to buy blocks of video streaming time. If we buy more than we need, we still have to pay for it. So we have to limit seating so we don’t end up paying a big bill for empty seats. 

With just 12 days to go, there’s about to be a mad rush of signups from people who are just hearing about it or have not yet signed up. We’re already over 50 percent and will have to cut off registration once we hit the maximum.

There’s no pressure from us to attend, but if you think you might want to, today would be a very good day to make sure you have a seat. 

Plus, several partner organizations are doing big mailings today and tomorrow. That means more seats will sell in the next few days.

But I Know You’re Skeptical About Exponential Learning … Which Is Why We’re Taking ALL The Risk!

Not only is this all new to us, it's all new to you. Even though we have several days of rehearsals and tech checks, we might flub a couple of things and you’ll be OK with that, but if we really mess up and you don’t love the experience, we know that you’ll want your money back. So, if by the end of the first day (July 15), you are not happy with the experience, let us know and we will refund 100% of your money.

Will You Experience Exponential Learning?

That’s partially up to you, but we think that by the end of the first day, you’ll feel like you learned enough that it's worth the cost of the entire event. If not, we stand behind our guarantee.

You Really Can’t Afford NOT to Invest in Your Painting

PleinAir Live is not only making history…
  • It's not only putting the world of plein air painters together…
  • It’s not only cementing your role in the plein air community…
  • ​It's not only about connection with the world of painters…
  • It's not just about the world's largest paint-out…
  • ​It's not just about the world's most accomplished artists…
  • ​It's about using this time to make yourself a better painter. 
You won’t regret your decision to attend, and if you do, we back it up with a full money-back guarantee.

Sign up today and hold your seat. It will be the best decision you’ve made in 2020!

Eric Rhoads
Publisher of PleinAir magazine and Host of PleinAir Live

P.S. These are strange times. We’re all feeling disconnected from the world. We all want to get outside and paint, and even the best of the best want to get better as painters. We will all grow from this experience.

If you have never been to a Plein Air Convention or haven’t attended since the early years, this will give you a feel for the experience without spending money on travel.

If you were planning to come to the convention but decided not to because of concerns over your safety or the safety of others, this is a fraction of what you would have spent to attend. And it will give you that much-needed shot in the arm of learning more about painting while also making new friends and interacting with old friends.

Sign up right now. You won’t regret it. I don’t think I’ve ever let you down, and I don’t intend to now. Plus, we want to keep PleinAir magazine strong and retain our team so we can do Plein Air Conventions in the future. Your registration will make a huge difference.

If you’ve been watching me daily live on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, you know I’m committed to being here for you. I’ve been there every single day to keep you focused on growth, keep your head out of fear, offering daily art instruction samples and interviews, providing art marketing training for free, and working my team to the bone to provide all of this for you. We are all about delivering in your time of need. PleinAir Live will give you a huge boost and be a great experience. You have my word.

The Elephant in the Room

I never thought I’d be telling people that I had to cancel the Plein Air Convention because of a pandemic. But even after rescheduling it to Santa Fe for August, canceling was the right thing to do.

But my little family-owned company isn’t some big corporation that can live on savings. We’ve already had to lay off 10 people, and we want to hang on to everyone else. But the convention is our primary source of income. 

We’d really appreciate your support so we can continue to make the plein air community better, keep publishing great magazines, hold conventions and other events, and produce the finest art instruction videos out there.

By signing up for PleinAir Live, you’re not only helping yourself, you’re helping secure a strong future for the entire plein air community.

Look at Who Will Be Teaching You at PleinAir Live

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Look at the Sponsors Who Are Supporting the Plein Air Community Through PleinAir Live. Please Spend Money With THESE COMPANIES who are showing they care about you.

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Organizational Partners

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