The Grand Canyon Is in Your Backyard
Why Plein Air Painting Changed Everything for Me
Workshops in Yorkshire - Summer 2025
There was a time when I felt completely lost with my painting.
Like many artists starting out — especially self-taught ones — I was trying a bit of everything. I was searching for gimmicks, chasing styles, becoming pale shadows of artists I admired. I’d scroll Instagram, look at my peers’ work, then look back at mine and think:
What am I doing wrong?
I had no real direction.
I’m predominantly self taught, through books, YouTube, and a couple of workshops — but very little one-to-one mentoring. So I pieced things together the only way I knew how, gathering fragments of advice from all over the place.
Then one day, while laying a floor — on my knees grafting, earphones in — I heard something that stopped me in my tracks
For those who don’t know, floor laying is currently my main source of income — it’s what funds the painting (The goal is to make painting full time eventually).
I listen to a lot of podcasts while I work. If I can’t feed the hands, I’ll feed the brain.
One of those podcasts was
‘The Creative Endeavour’ hosted by Andrew Tischler.
He’s had some brilliant guests on there, but the conversations that really hit home was with
Joe’s been on the podcast several times, each 2/3 hours long. But I find them so interesting they feel about 5 minutes. I’ve listened to them all multiple times.
(Highly recommend doing the same)
Anyway on one of the episodes Joe said something that honestly changed everything for me.
The conversations are packed full of gold but there was this one quote that I just couldn’t get out of my head.
“If you’re struggling, you’ve got to go outside -
“The Grand Canyon is in your backyard. You just have to find it.”
That line hit me like a brick.
Because deep down, I knew it was true. I just wasn’t aware I needed to hear it.
After that everything made sense
You Can Only Paint What You Know
Up until that point, I thought becoming a better painter meant travelling — Venice, Florence, grand dramatic landscapes, coming from an Atelier or studying under a great master.
Don’t get me wrong — all these things undoubtably are incredible, but I’d wager rare for the average painter like myself.
Because it is my belief you don’t need them to become a good painter.
You just have to learn to see.
Painting from life — especially close to home — forces you to observe properly. Light. Atmosphere. Colour relationships. Subtle shifts in value.
When you paint what you know, and you do it honestly — not for Instagram, not for trends — something changes in the work. It becomes authentic. And people feel that. That’s what that quote cemented to me.
Why Plein Air Accelerates Growth
I used to think plein air painting was a bit… airy-fairy.
I thought surely you could just learn it all in the studio? Do I really have to go outside? (You might be thinking the same thing)
But every artist I’ve ever admired — without exception — painted from life. Every single one.
So at the start of 2025, I made a conscious decision to take plein air seriously.
No idea what I was doing or what to do, just got some kit and went to work
That decision changed everything.
My work came on in leaps and bounds.
There were loads of failures — plenty of bad paintings (still is). But there were also a handful I was genuinely proud of.
Now please don’t get me wrong, I’m on a journey here. I have a long way to go with my own painting, I’m not pretending to know all the answers. I’m just sharing my experience with one year of plein air painting since the start of 2025.
What surprised me most?
Many of my strongest pieces were painted entirely on location in two or three hours.
I find taking home a plein air painting home and trying to “improve” it in the studio, is a very dangerous thing
Because something intangible gets lost.
I once heard a great quote from David Curtis on a podcast. He recalled something Ken Howard (RIP) said to him, and it’s always stuck with me:
“If you take a painting home to finish it off… you really will finish it off.”
Brilliant.
When you’re outside, you’re breathing the same air as the scene. You’re feeling the temperature, the wind, the light on your face, you are engaged.
All of that sensory information travels down your arm and into the brush.
Whether you believe it or not, in my experience it’s an unconscious energy that can only happen in that place in that moment. Something happens
You work quicker.
Your marks are looser.
Your decisions are more instinctive.
And the result often feels more alive
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Malham Cove Beck - 9×12’ - Martin Jeffrey Wright - Painted at Workshops in Yorkshire
Ok, Prove it
To back this up, i did a plein air painting in Yorkshire last year that got accepted into
‘The Royal Institution of Oil Painters’
(ROI) Annual Exhibition 2025
This receives thousands of entrants each year and is one of the most difficult and prestigious competitions to get accepted into in the country.
I entered three paintings into that competition
Two studio paintings and one plein air
Guess which one got accepted?
Again this cemented everything I already knew, my decision to open the door and paint outside makes the world of difference..
I’m exactly where I need to be.
‘Passing Cloud Near Hesketh Farm’ - 9×12” - Oil on Linen - Martin Jeffrey Wright
Painted on Location at Workshops in Yorkshire - 2/3 hours - Accepted into ‘The Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ - Annual Exhibition 2025
Don’t Get Me Wrong
Now I must mention this isn’t a hate campaign against studio painting, I do paint in the studio too occasionally. But I use my outdoor paintings as my main source of reference.
You can certainly elevate studio paintings to a much higher degree than on the spot, I’m just saying in my experience something get’s lost.
There are probably tons of good painters out there that never leave the studio, and if they’re happy and successful then good for them. Im also aware some folks can’t physically get outside for whatever reason
I’m just saying, to experience a place, a person, object, whatever, if you observe this from life, live and breathe that same space, it helps, it really does.
Painting the Ordinary — Finding the Extraordinary
One of the biggest lessons plein air taught me is this:
You don’t need spectacular subjects.
You just need awareness.
Near the top of my road there’s a simple verge where cars pull in and out. Nothing special.
One winter, it snowed, and I noticed sunlight casting these beautiful blue shadows across some tyre tracks. I remember thinking:
That would make a great painting.
Then I forgot about it.
A year later, it snowed again — rare for us in the UK. Same conditions. Fresh snow. Low winter sun. Blue shadows across the tracks.
So I painted it on the spot.
Just light, shadow, and tyre marks.
That painting resonated with people — far more than I expected.
To me, that was success.
Not because of sales or praise — but because I’d noticed something ordinary, close to home, and painted it honestly from life.
That to me, on that day, that was my Grand Canyon.
Other things I’ve benefited from since taking my studio outside:
The Mental Health Benefits
There’s something people don’t talk about enough — what plein air does for your mind.
Getting outside regularly, observing nature, slowing down enough to truly look — it’s grounding.
It pulls you out of your head. Off your phone and for those 2/3 hours it’s just you and your art. It’s honestly magic.
I sometimes say to myself, just enjoy the day, if you get a good painting out of it then that is just a bonus.
You meet people (future collectors in some cases) I’ve met many fellow Plein air painters, made new friends and I’ve also met a lot of my peers.
You have conversations you’d never have otherwise. You become a walking billboard for your own practice.
Yes, it’s intimidating at first.
You feel exposed. You think everyone’s watching.
I spent a long time painting hidden away in woods just to build confidence.
But you can paint anywhere:
Your back garden
A quiet field
The end of your road
And if you do paint in public — most people are kind. Curious. Supportive.
You’ll need a thick skin occasionally — but that’s part of the game.
Not convinced? I don’t blame you. It’s not easy it takes a lot of commitment and effort. But for those that need to hear it, try this..
Do It for a Year
If you take anything from this post, let it be this:
Pick up your kit.
Even if it’s just a sketchbook.
Go outside!!
Paint from life consistently for one year — through good paintings and bad ones.
Then compare day one to day 365.
I promise you — you’ll see the difference.
Plein air painting won’t just improve your work.
It will change how you see.
It will change how you notice YOUR own world.
Celebrate that.
And once you learn to see — properly see — everything else in painting starts to make sense.
Because the Grand Canyon isn’t in Italy.
It isn’t in America.
It’s right outside your front door!!
You just have to find it.
And you never know where that might take you —
you could be listening to a podcast on your knees one day, and then standing beside the man who said the words another
Me & Joe Paquet at his Plein-Air Workshop in Yorkshire - Summer 2025
Thank you for taking the time to read this — it genuinely means a lot. I’d love to know if any part of it landed with you in the way it did with me, so please feel free to leave a comment.
This is a story I’ve carried in my head for quite a while. I just needed the right place to share it. I didn’t want it getting lost somewhere in the algorithm, so creating this blog felt like the right home for it.
If you know someone who might need to hear this, please do share it with them. I’m deeply passionate about plein-air painting, and if my experience helps even one person, then it’s been worth putting into words. I want others to feel and benefit from what stepping outside has given me so far.
If you’d like to follow the journey, please consider subscribing to my newsletter. I’ll be sharing future thoughts, blog posts, upcoming digital products, commissions paintings for sale, coaching, and more.
Get outside — and good luck.
Martin
