Highlights are tricky. Get them wrong and your whole painting will look slightly off. Get them right and it pulls everything together, like slotting the missing piece into a jigsaw puzzle. Let’s take a closer look at what highlights are, how to paint them, and some of the nuances to look out for. I’ll cover: … Read more
I have a few recent paintings to share. Here’s one of them, Impressions of Noosa. I had mixed feelings about the outcome of this, but it’s come to grow on me. Something different at the very least. I also think it’s worth sharing paintings that didn’t go exactly as planned as this gives you a … Read more
Let’s take a closer look at Michelangelo Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit. A delicate still life by an intense and controversial artist. It’s amazing to think Caravaggio painted this centuries ago, without the technology and state-of-the-art brushes, paints, and tools we have today. Just shows that today’s advantages are helpful but not necessary for the creation … Read more
I’ve been in a creative rut until recently, as you may have noticed from my lack of activity. And I don’t just mean painting and drawing. Anything requiring even a sliver of creativity has been a struggle. When this happens, I like to go back to what I know and enjoy-in this case, painting the … Read more
Clouds are a staple of landscape painting. You can use them as the key feature or idea of your painting (see Issac Levitan’s Clouds below), to create a sense of moody atmosphere, or simply as a composition tool for their dynamic shapes. Many artists struggle to paint them. That’s perhaps due to their transient, organic, … Read more
In this post, I take a closer look at Marie Bashkirtseff’s The Umbrella. A subtle yet powerful painting. Bashkirtseff painted it in her early 20s, just a year or so before she died at 25. I cover: Who’s the Girl? There’s little information surrounding this painting; I picked it based on technique rather than any … Read more
Here’s the latest painting off the easel, Tree in Perspective. This is one of the largest, if not the largest painting I have done, coming in at 24 by 30 inches. It depicts a tree from an extreme perspective with a background of deep blues. A simple yet challenging composition. Reference Photo Here’s the reference photo … Read more
“As the woods are the same, the trees standing in their places, the rocks and the earth… they are always different too, as lights and shadows and seasons and moods pass through them.” Emily Carr Trees are an endless source of inspiration for me. So many unique combinations of color, light, shadow, form, and other … Read more
I came across Edward Theodore Compton’s work the other day. I’m surprised he eluded me until now. I’ll keep this one brief. Sometimes, it’s better to just sit back and admire. Here are key points about his life: A man of many titles: landscape painter, illustrator, climber, and art teacher to his children. He studied … Read more
(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 things I learn). Reference Photo You can download the photo here. Feel free to paint it for yourself. Details Oil on stretched canvas. 16 x 20 inches. Main colors: Ultramarine blue, permanent … Read more
(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 things I learn). Details Oil on canvas board. 12 x 16 inches. Main colors: Ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, cadmium red, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, viridian green, raw umber, titanium white. Refer to … Read more
“Russia – country of landscapes… I hope the time will come, when all Russian nature, alive and penetrated by spirit, will look from canvases of Russian artists…” Ivan Shishkin Few have captured nature’s delicate beauty like Ivan Shishkin. A Russian master who tasted the rare fruits of an artist’s success but also bitter tragedy. I … Read more