Paint Out Holt took place 19-20 July. 22 plein air artists across 3 sessions from Friday to Saturday morning ahead of opening the Holt Festival at Picturecraft Gallery in Holt. Prizes were awarded by Robert Upstone, former Senior Curator of 20th Century Art at Tate and Norfolk-based Art Historian, Charlotte Crawley – a former curator and past Director of the East Anglia Art Fund.
Paint Out Norfolk took place 1-7 July. 27 plein air artists toured Norfolk’s rivers, beaches and Broads, the palatial Palladian Houghton Hall with Henry Moores, as well as Bishop’s Bridge in Norwich itself and the Sainsbury Centre at UEA campus and sculpture park. Seven painting days in the summer sun! Read about the Prize-winning artworks here.
Paint Out Cambridge took place 13-17 May in partnership with Cheffins Fine Art. 30 experienced plein air artists used to working on the streets painted Cambridge’s classic colleges, chapels and beautiful bridges, punts on the River Cam, Market Square and other views. Three painting days, eight sessions, day and evening, all en plein air! Read about the Prize-winning artworks here.
Paintings created at Paint Out Great Yarmouth, Norfolk 2018
Paint Out Great Yarmouth took place in the historic Norfolk coastal town on 1 September 2018. Yarmouth has featured in historic paintings and its history in art was portrayed during ‘Drawn to the Coast: Turner, Constable, Cotman‘ which explored the identity of Great Yarmouth and its surrounding landscape through the artwork it has inspired. J.M.W Turner and John Constable, Norwich School of painters such as Joseph Stannard, John Sell Cotman and John Crome were all drawn to paint here.
Paint Out 2017 saw an en plein air invitational event at the Royal Norfolk Show. Fifteen hardy artists painted all the colour and character of the UK’s largest two-day agricultural event amidst torrential downpours and mud to rival Glastonbury! From fairground to farriers, and pigs to poultry, there was plenty to paint. Our artists were positioned around the Norfolk Showground site, returning their wet artworks every few hours to our tent for a live art auction on the first day, and continually refreshed rolling exhibition over both days.
Paintings created at Paint Out Sudbury, Suffolk 2018
A baker’s dozen of plein air artists took to the historic wool town of Sudbury, Suffolk, on 30 June 2018. Birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough with its snaking River Stour, water meadows, Saturday market, St Peter’s Church, Gainsborough’s garden, Valley Trail, and some 247Â Heritage Listed buildings, it was a veritable treasure trove of idyllic painting locations on one of the hottest days of the year.
Our events offer everything from mass public plein air paint outs, to one-day pop-up explorations of East Anglian towns and countryside, intense weekend events painting dawn to dusk, and our premier fully-juried and selected 8-day event in Norwich & Norfolk. Click the links below to view the historic event galleries or scroll down for the most recent events. Paint Out Norfolk 2023 online galleries is seeing daily updates/uploads – partial previews showing now – or visit the physical exhibition. Contact us if interested in any paintings for up-to-date availability.
Paint Out™ is an art event aiming to refresh and redefine 21st century en plein air art practice. Founded in 2014, we are the UK’s premier and only fully juried en plein air art competition, celebrating the talents of national and international artists before a wide audience in the heart of medieval and iconic Norwich, around beautiful Norfolk‘s towns, countryside, broads and coast. We also hope to visit Suffolk again soon and have also painted Cambridge. Many of our events are about extreme painting challenges, in any weather, up against the clock and the gaze of the art-loving public. Come and ExperienceArt, Live!
Our outdoor painting programme builds upon over 9 years of plein air art events and 3 years of 8-day tours of Norfolk and Norwich with open-air exhibitions seeing dozens of artwork sales and thousands also raised for charity. Each event sees interest from over 100 artists from UK, USA, France, Ireland, Malta, Scandinavia and elsewhere; do enter the UK’s most innovative plein air art event running each July with applications exceeding 140+ artist entries.
It’s an opportunity to brush up alongside new and familiar faces of the plein air art community. Challenge your creativity. Develop your skills – we have optional extra workshops and demos from guest artists Haidee Jo Summers, Roger Dellar, and Rob Nelmes. Come and capture the height of summer in county, city, coast, and countryside locations including Norwich, Norfolk seaside, inland Broads, seaport and market towns, several historic houses and gardens, and over-the-border forays to Constable country in Suffolk. There will be guest artists, painting demos, talks, socials, and art world judges.
Recent judges have included Dr Sally Anne Huxtable, Michael Richardson, Maggi Hambling, Rob Adams, Hugh Pilkington and the Castle Museum’s Giorgia Bottinelli.
This year the judges include art historian and award-winning author Frances Spalding; art history at UEA alumni, Aylsham Picture House chair, art and antiques expert on Dickinson’s Real Deal, James Layte; and Andrew Bowyer, formerly head of Phillips’ Picture Department, and Sotheby’s Old Masters and now a Fine Art Consultant for Sworders.
Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers will also be on-site during the PV on 20th July and through to 22nd July offering a free art appraisal service for one piece of your art/antique collection (Antiques Roadshow style!). They are the main sponsors of the event this year along with Rosemary & Co Brushes, Michael Harding Paints, and Norwich Art Supplies.