What Is Art? which has puzzled philosophers for centuries. By Stefan Baumann

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Watch Plein Air, Alla Prima, Artist Stefan Baumann, Artist of Americas National Parks Demonstrate how to paint on location using color, composition, value and brushstrokes. Stefan Baumann believes that “Anyone can learn how to paint; all it takes is desire.” He has been an artist and is an oil painting instructor for the past 35 years and has taught the fine art of oil painting to enthusiastic art students in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as in Southern Oregon, and in Northern California. He says that artists who paint from life, which includes still life painting in a studio and plein air painting on location, have a distinct advantage when creating original artwork because they can paint what they see and feel as they apply their paint to a canvas. This personal experience with the subject is not possible when copying another work or painting from the limited image of a photograph. Plein air painting utilizes a painting application technique called “alla prima,” or wet o