I’m working on an eerie night/early morning painting at the moment. I want to share with you a particularly tricky color problem I faced. Below is the reference photo I’m painting from. I took this on our last trip to Kingfisher Bay in Queensland, Australia. It was about 5:30 am and I was fishing alone … Read more
Chontele reminded me that I need to write more about watercolors. You may have noticed I have a slight preference towards impressionist landscapes in oils, but I like what I like! However a wise man listens to his wife, so I have a watercolorist to share with you today, George Elbert Burr. He was an … Read more
One of the key features of my recent Misty, Green Landscape painting is atmospheric perspective, with the mist gradually enveloping everything in the distance. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to write a detailed guide about how to paint atmospheric perspective and some things you should consider. I’ll cover: Recap: What is … Read more
Here’s a painting fresh off the easel: Misty, Green Landscape. This one was much harder than it looks. There was little room for error with the greens and the misty background. If I used just a touch too much color or if I was slightly off with the temperature, it would look completely wrong. I … Read more
Someone emailed in saying how they have been struggling with many of the concepts that we discuss in our articles and courses, but lately a few things have started to just click out of nowhere. That’s how it goes! Progress will feel frustratingly slow until something just clicks and you begin to understand what’s going … Read more
I was originally going to feature just one painting by Emile Claus, Zonnegloed (shown below), but I came across so many other wonderful paintings that I had to expand my scope. Claus was a Belgian painter known for his bright colors and impressionist style. His work is similar to that of Claude Monet, though many … Read more
This is a detailed guide on painting within a compressed or narrow value range. Most of my paintings incorporate compressed values to some extent. It’s a simple but powerful concept. Learning it many years ago was one of those ‘a-ha’ moments that has stuck with me ever since. What Does It Mean? Painting within a … Read more
On my recent solo art trip, I had two successful paintings and one failed painting. With the failed painting, the rain got a bit heavy and flooded my palette, turning the paint into a gluggy, unworkable mess. And I transferred this mess and my frustration onto the surface. As frustrating as failed paintings are, there … Read more
I just returned from a two-night art trip in the Noosa Hinterlands. It was just me, my dog Kobe, and nature. Though we did have a resident horse visit us a few times. One of my struggles lately has been finding time to detach and focus on art. As wholesome as life is with a … Read more
For your inspiration today is a grand landscape by Adelsteen Normann titled Summer in Fjord. Title: Summer in Fjord Date Created: 1918 Size: 28.3 x 37.7 inches (72 x 96 cm) Medium: Oil on Canvas A few observations: Let me know your thoughts about the painting in the comments. If you ever want to learn … Read more
We had a strange experience here in Brisbane over the last week or so. Ex-cyclone Alfred hit our coastline. It was initially a category two tropical cyclone but was downgraded to a tropical low by the time it hit the mainland. In any case, a rare event for us. We spent a lot of time … Read more
I just finished up this little painting. It’s based on a place called Prevelly in Perth, Australia. We were staying nearby on the Margaret River and this was a lookout I came across on a morning run. The light bouncing off the ocean was a blinding and magnificent sight. One of the challenges I encountered … Read more