Joanne Benson 's comment on The Two Plein Air Artists

Great debate! I love to plein air and have participated in group paint outs but never a "competition" where you were timed and judged at the end with prizes involved. I think that if you are in the "contest" then you should obey the rules whatever they are. Otherwise, I think that having a good painting is more important and that studio touch ups are fine. The plein air group that I am a member of has a "rule of thumb" stating that no more than 15 percent should be done in the studio. Most good painters can manage corrections within that percentage although there is no way to police how much studio time was spent and in the end no one really cares if the painting is a good one. The buyers generally don't care how the painting was made if they love it. Although, it is always fun to have an interesting plein air story attached to a painting.