Jason Witte looked prepared for an adventure as he stood in front of a blank white canvas resting on a wooden easel at the edge of a grassy field.

Wearing tightly strapped hiking boots, a floppy bucket hat and loose jacket, he looked off into the distance at his subject, a robust tree filled with leaves that met the blue morning sky.

Cicadas buzzed. Cars zoomed by. But Witte appeared unbothered as he began his initial “mess of marks,” which he compared to the disorder of life.

“I like to paint these things because they can be gone,” Witte said as he squeezed paint out of a metal tube.

A longtime artist, Witte is now trying to perfect his outdoor painting, also known as “plein air” painting, by capturing the scene at several casual places around Baltimore. The challenge of painting an outdoor spot in person has also helped him connect with people in local neighborhoods.

So far, the Iowa native has painted homes, alleyways, landscapes and bridges.

He recently painted a house in his Northwood neighborhood that sent many neighbors buzzing once he posted it on the Nextdoor app. Curious passersby struck up conversations with him and he got to know some of his neighbors, he said.

Witte describes outdoor painters as an “extinct species.”

“People just can’t really grasp why in the world someone would set up their easel and go through that time and effort,” Witte said.

Historians believe plein air painting started in France in the 1830s and was a social and technological phenomenon, said Virginia Anderson, a senior curator of American art at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The museum currently has plein air artwork from Claude Monet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Edward Mitchell Bannister in its collection.

Though it may be uncommon to see an artist painting a scene outdoors along a busy Baltimore street, plein air painting has pockets of popularity in Maryland. At least half a dozen competitions and festivals take place throughout the state each year. The competition in Easton is one of the largest in the country.

John Brandon Sills, who has been plein air painting since the 1980s, believes plein air’s popularity has increased in the past 15 years. Plein air painters are the “lumberjacks” of artists because of the willingness to sweat in the sun or bear the cold, Sills said.

“There has to be a commitment to be out there to really experience the multifaceted aspects of nature,” Sills added.

As Witte worked on the details of the tree, flicking his brush to make the tree look more full, a baby deer with white spots appeared in the far left of the nearby field. Then, soon after, a doe.

Witte quickly added small, brown, abstract specks in the corner of his painting to capture the essence of what had just happened in real life.

“It’s not what you put in a painting,” Witte urged. “It’s what you leave out.”

As the tree became more apparent on the canvas, Witte leaned in and then back to analyze the impact of his previous stroke. Each new addition of paint sent him into a kind of dance: a squint, then a head tilt followed by a grin.

On this sunny August day, Witte experimented with verdant combinations, whipping them together to bring to life both the parts of the field filled with green along with blotches of older, browning grass.

A woman in a silver car stopped at the light and yelled to Witte that she loved his painting. Two men in a security company vehicle doubled back to get a glimpse, curious about the final result after they earlier saw the blank canvas.

“That’s the random stuff that’s so cool,” Witte said

Witte raced against time, since lighting can change the outcome of a painting. Plein air artists have different philosophies when it comes to how long one should take on a painting and where it should be worked on.

To finish his painting with more detail, Witte often takes it to Matt Zoll’s Zoll Studio of Fine Art in Timonium. Witte considers Zoll a mentor and appreciates feedback and tips.

“The biggest thing is dealing with the elements. … You have to learn how to adapt without changing your painting every hour,” Zoll said.

Witte believes that being outdoors is the best advertising for his work, which can sometimes lead to commissions. And to align with modern times, he often posts his progress on TikTok and other social media platforms.

Janice Williams, who lives in Cleveland, came across Witte’s artwork on Facebook. Williams and her husband currently have at least three pieces of Witte’s hanging in their house, including a painting of an alleyway in Hampden with a bright red rowhouse at the end of a block.

“If I had more wall space and more money, I would buy more. I never get tired of looking at these,” Williams said.

Witte keeps a sketchbook when he goes on walks for when he gets inspired. His paintings don’t always lead to paid jobs, but the attention to his painting out in the community has its own value.

“I just want them to feel, to get a sense of seeing beauty where they don’t think it will be,” Witte said.

This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Jason Witte’s name.