Elena Salnikova’s Colorful Portraits

Today’s featured artist is Elena Salnikova. She paints stunning portraits in oil, usually with the subject outdoors amongst nature. Her still lifes are also impressive. You can see a few of my favorites below. They are colorful and playful, but not so much that they appear cartoonish and overly stylized. Her style also seems particularly suited … Read more

Exploring Vincent van Gogh’s Techniques and Processes

Most people characterize Vincent van Gogh’s work for its bold, swirling strokes. But he was much more dynamic than just that. I have spent the last few weeks looking over his entire portfolio, including over 800 paintings, to get a feel for how he painted and his preferred techniques and processes. Here are my findings. … Read more

Dad’s Old Drawing

I was going through some of my childhood photos at my parents’ place and came across an old drawing in a wooden frame and a worn black-and-white photo in the top-left corner. Turns out it was done by my dad over 50 years ago. He was living with an artist friend who encouraged him to … Read more

On the Easel: Montville, Red, Yellow, and Green

(My “On the Easel” posts give you a behind-the-scenes look at what I am working on, what went well, what went wrong, and lessons learned.) Below is one of my recent paintings, Montville, Red, Yellow, and Green. It depicts the beautiful landscape of Montville, Queensland, Australia. We spent a few nights there around the end … Read more

How I Painted This Impressionist Landscape (Plus Video)

I recently published a video walking you through my painting, Perth Gardens. You can watch it below. The painting took about four hours spread over several sessions. The video shows you some of the broad steps and decisions I made along the way. If you don’t have time to watch the video, you can read … Read more

How I Choose Subjects to Paint

In this post, I’ll share what my subject selection process looks like and the questions I ask myself in determining if a subject is worth painting. This is an important topic that doesn’t get enough attention. Most of my “painting” time is spent searching for inspiration and interesting subjects to paint. Overview of My Subject … Read more

A Closer Look At Shearing the Rams by Tom Roberts

“Paint what you love, and love what you paint” Tom Roberts Let’s take a closer look at the iconic Australian painting, Sheering the Rams by Tom Roberts. When I think of outback Australia, this painting comes to mind. I’ll cover: Dimensions: 48.2 x 72.1 inches (122.4 × 183.3 cm) Year Created: 1890 Medium: Oil on … Read more