A PALM Beach artist will be one of 12 painting live during the Sydney Cricket Ground's 100th Test match between Australian and India on Tuesday.

Peter Letts is a celebrated local artist who will spend one day of the three-day Test painting "en plein air" in support of the McGrath Foundation.

En plein air is a French expression meaning "in the open air" and in this case will mean Mr Letts drawing inspiration from the test as it is played.

He said he was an artist, illustrator and designer with a passion for portraits, caricatures and figurative work.

"I'm not sure what medium I'll be using or what approach I'll take," Mr Letts said.

"But the SCG 100th Test Plein Air Project presents a challenging and exciting opportunity to capture the atmosphere and personality of a major historic event, rather than that of an individual."

Mr Letts has regularly featured in the Doug Moran portrait prize since its inception and excels in capturing the essence of individual personalities on paper or canvas.

He is pictured here indulging one of his passions: creating caricatures for children staying at the Kirra Beach Tourist Park.

SCG Trust chief executive Jamie Barkley said cricket and art fans would be able to bid for the completed works, which will be displayed online from day four of the test until 8.30pm January 12.

"The SCG test has become one of the most recognised and successful sporting events in the country," Mr Barkley said.

"As the SCG celebrates its 100th test, cricket fans and art lovers will have the chance to witness the creation of a unique slice of SCG memorabilia and also successfully bid for one of the works."

Former test cricketer and McGrath Foundation chairman and co-founder Glenn McGrath welcomed the art initiative saying he expected some lively online bidding

"Over the past three years, thanks to the support from Cricket Australia, the SCG Trust and Cricket NSW, the Pink Test has successfully raised over $2.2 million to help place McGrath Breast Care Nurses in communities right across Australia," Mr McGrath said.

"These nurses have helped support more than 10,000 Australian families through a breast cancer experience.

"We are thrilled the 12 artists have donated their time and services and we know that funds raised from the auction will be helping us support the next 10,000 families through the support of our McGrath Breast Care Nurses."

Artists co-ordinator Derek Zilich said interest was so strong in the project that artists were coming from Sydney, country NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

"French Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir advocated en plein air painting.

"And much of their work was done outdoors, in the diffuse light provided by a large white umbrella.

"In recent times, former England Test wicketkeeper Jack Russell has been painting en plein air at Test matches at Lords," Mr Zilich said.

Visit www.pinktest.com.au for more information or to bid.