En plein air means:

• A. Painting indoors in a studio.
• B. Painting outdoors.
• C. Sketching from memory.
• D. Using monochrome palettes.

Answer: (B)

En plein air means painting outdoors, in the open air. The phrase invites you to observe natural light, color, and atmosphere directly where the scene is, and to work with the changing conditions as they happen. Historically, painters in the 19th century, especially the French Impressionists, embraced this approach to capture the immediacy of outdoor scenes, using portable supplies so they could set up outside and paint quickly to keep up with shifting light. This contrasts with painting indoors in a studio, which separates the artwork from the actual outdoor conditions. It also isn’t about sketching from memory, which relies on internal memory rather than direct observation, nor about sticking to monochrome palettes, which relates to color use rather than location.