I’m nearly done with the New Zealand painting that I’ve been working on for the last week or so. I’ll share it soon. In the meantime, I have one more lesson from the painting process. Below is the reference photo I’m painting from. Take a look at the distant mountains. Notice how the edge along … Read more
I’m about to start a new painting. But before I make the first strokes, I want to invite you behind the scenes of my painting process. The subject I want to paint is a pebble beach Chontele and I visited on our New Zealand honeymoon back in 2024. It was a very paintable spot (like … Read more
Today’s featured artist is Olga Wisinger-Florian, an Austrian painter known for her rich landscapes and florals. She was a figurehead of the niche movement, Austrian Mood Impressionism. Below are some of my favorites. The Pond Behind the House: A simple painting done well. I love the slightly zoomed-in composition, the rich greens, and the glassy … Read more
As I was having dinner last night, I found myself looking at one of my old paintings that hangs in the living room. What caught my eye was the leaves of the main tree and the way they melt into the background. The leaves are distinct, and the background is distinct, but it’s unclear where … Read more
I have to say goodbye to this Noosa painting today. It found a buyer and a new home. It’s always bittersweet to sell a painting. Part of me wants to hoard them and create a gigantic personal gallery, with each wall filled from floor to ceiling with art. But part of me also appreciates that … Read more
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a new painting I’m working on. It’s a colorful landscape from our local parklands. A “secret spot” my daughter, Elora, and I came across on one of our explorations. Keep in mind, it’s not yet complete, but it’s almost there. A key takeaway from this painting is how dynamic the … Read more
After I published my Gustav Klimt’s Tree Paintings post yesterday, I had an interesting observation about one of his paintings, Blühender Mohn Mohnwiese. It depicts blooming red poppies in a green landscape, conveyed with thousands of distinct dots and dabs of color. I wanted to check something about the colors last night, so I had … Read more
I previously wrote about one of Gustav Klimt’s tree paintings, Beech Grove. There are several others I’d like to showcase today. Klimt had such a unique and adventurous approach to art. Some of his paintings are refined and realistic, some have an impressionistic, van Gogh-like appearance, and some are deeply symbolic and abstract. Sometimes, he … Read more
I’m currently working on a dark series of paintings featuring the Kingfisher Bay jetty at night and very early morning. Above is the first one in the series which I previously shared with you. The others will be done over the next month or so. Painting night subjects or other low-light subjects presents unique challenges. … Read more
I mostly write about painting, but I have been practicing academic figure drawing on the side for the last few years now, guided by Jeff Watts’ atelier. For the exercises, he recommends you use 6B pencils. But up until now, I’ve been making do with 4B pencils for no reason other than complacency. What difference … Read more
I just put the finishing touches on this painting. It features Kingfisher Bay in Queensland, Australia. It was early morning and I was fishing alone on the jetty. The atmosphere was hazy and sunlight was just starting to peer over the mountains. These subtle subjects are surprisingly tricky. You have to do a lot of … Read more
I stumbled across a newsletter published by Jeremy Mann during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. Mann wrote: “The true sign of an artist is one who continues through this, without bending, without sacrificing their moral values, without sacrificing their self respect to create something simply for cash, without gimmick. You’d be asking the … Read more