For your inspiration today is a painting by a Russian artist named Stanislav Zhukovsky. It’s titled Summer Meadow, Pobojka. It’s a simple and pleasant landscape. (Not every painting needs to make a grand statement. It could just be pretty.) There’s a pleasing temperature contrast between the pink flowers and the surrounding greens and blues. The … Read more
This is an interview with Wayne Malkin. He’s not only a renowned seascape painter but also a co-owner of the Montville Art Gallery in Queensland, Australia. I’ve been visiting this gallery since I was a child alongside my parents and now as a parent myself with Elora. With each visit, I’m reminded of how many … Read more
At the start of the year, Chontele, Elora, and I spent a week with friends in Perth. It has some beautiful spots, particularly along the coast. My most recent painting is based on a photo I took at Cape Peron. This was a surprisingly challenging scene to paint well. The big idea of this painting … Read more
For your inspiration today is Thomas Moran’s View of Venice. It’s an intricate watercolor painting of Italy’s Canal Grande. (You can download a high-resolution photo of the painting here.) Below are some key observations about the painting. Compressed Values and Dark Accents Here’s a grayscale of the painting: The painting follows a theme of compressed values … Read more
I have taken progress shots of almost every painting I have created over the past seven years. This has been an invaluable habit. Not only does it remind me how each painting came together, but it also helps me solve problems that arise in my paintings. Often a painting will be coming together nicely… until … Read more
In this post, I’ll share some of the tests you can use to check the accuracy of your paintings or to diagnose mistakes. I’ll use my recent painting, Elora and White Roses (shown below), to demonstrate my points. Why These Tests Are Important and When to Use Them Of course, the key benefit of these … Read more
The other day, I gave you a behind-the-scenes look at how I painted Boats at Wynnum (here is a link to that post if you missed it). I had to go heavy on the problem solving with this painting. Particularly regarding the boat. It was tricky to make it appear realistic yet also consistent with … 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.) Let’s take a look at how I painted Boats at Wynnum. I painted this toward the end of 2022 and gifted it to my parents for Christmas. Reference Photo … 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 lessons learned.) Let’s take a look at how I painted Elora and White Roses. This is one of my favorite recent paintings, partly because it depicts my beautiful daughter Elora in a … Read more
This is an interview with professional artist and master landscape painter Dan Schultz. One of his high-key landscapes caught my eye a few years ago on Instagram and I have been following his work on and off ever since. He has taken the time to answer a few questions about his life as an artist, … Read more