Why Gen Z Is Learning to Paint Like 19th-Century Artists

In London’s Hyde Park, young painters sit behind rows of wooden easels. Kicking off their sneakers on the picnic rugs and pulling down their baseball caps to keep the sun out of their eyes, they studiously start making their marks on the canvas. There is a carefree atmosphere as some sip prosecco from a pop-up bar cart.

Patrice-Rose McLean, founder of Ambient Art London, has seen an uptick in young adults joining the group’s mobile art events, where they can choose to recreate a suggested image or capture their own moment in time. In the era of artificial intelligence, when a finished artwork can appear on your screen at the press of a button, Generation Z and millennials are seeking a more nostalgic pursuit. They are enjoying the 19th-century pastime of painting en plein air, setting up their art easels in the great outdoors to capture a moment in time with paint rather than pixels.

Last year, Gothamist reported that art schools in New York were seeing a surge in applications. Pratt Institute had a waitlist for its painting and drawing classes, and the Parsons School of Design saw applications increase 64 percent since 2016. Painting groups are popping up in parks, and people are choosing to take fine art classes in Italian art schools, instead of doomscrolling on the sofa.

TikTok is filled with scenes of people embracing the technique. Burgeoning artists will post timelapses of their plein air paintings, while others share tips on how to craft your own easel from plywood, and more are showing that you don’t need a canvas when you have old mint tins or upcycled fabric. Remington Robinson, 40, from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, has lit up TikTok with plein air paintings, including a street scene in Paris and even a Nissan truck in Mexico.

The mural painter-turned-TikTok plein air artist uses upcycled Altoid tins as mini palettes. His online tutorials, which he first posted in 2021, now receive as many as 13 million likes apiece. Robinson says plein air is like a mini meditation.

The plein air artist says that being in nature helps him stay present. Thanks to wild-card elements such as dealing with changing light conditions, bugs or people parking their car in front of him when he’s busy painting a scene, Robinson says the technique of plein air also teaches him patience. Robinson, who wrote a how-to book on miniature painting on the go, thinks others should try painting al fresco.