Art Newsletter
Here’s a painting fresh off the easel: Perth Gardens. One of the key challenges of this painting was making the feature plant stand out as a soft focal point, yet also appear woven in with the surrounding landscape. Getting it right involved a lot of back and forth between blending the plant in with the … Read more
Read MoreFor 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
Read MoreAt 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
Read MoreFor 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
Read MoreI 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
Read MoreThe 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
Read MoreIt’s Easier to Paint From Your Own Reference Photos
Someone emailed in saying they hope my Painting the Landscape workshop will give them the confidence to take and paint from their own reference photos. The thing is, painting from your own reference photo is easier and more effective than painting from one taken by me or anyone else. When you paint from your own … Read more
Read MoreOne of my goals for 2023 is to do more drawing. This isn’t so much a challenge of motivation or drive but rather uninterrupted time. I’m critically short on that, perhaps more so now than ever. My solution has been to wake up around 4 am each morning and get some drawing in whilst everyone … Read more
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