For your inspiration today is Isaac Levitan’s Trail in Deciduous Forest, Ferns. This painting is a great lesson on simplification, feature details, and analogous colors. Dimensions: 10.6 x 15 inches (27 × 39 cm) Year Created: 1895 Medium: Oil on Canvas Current Location: Saint Petersburg, State Russian Museum Click here to download a high-resolution photo … Read more
Let’s take a closer look at The Little Worker by Helen McNicoll—a pleasant landscape with high-key colors, compressed values, and an intimate perspective. Dimensions: 20 x 24 inches (51.3 × 61 cm) Year Created: c.1907 Medium: Oil on Canvas Current Location: Ontario Art Gallery, Toronto Click here to download a high-resolution photo of the painting. … Read more
I recently put the finishing touches on Fraser Island, Analogous Colors (see below). It’s a simple landscape with a sea of analogous greens and blues. In light of this painting, I put together a few tips for painting with analogous colors. (I also published a video walking you through the key steps of this painting. … Read more
Let’s take a closer look at this stunning landscape painting by Daniel Garber titled September Morning. I love Garber’s work. He had a unique, peaceful style. This one caught my eye the other day with its crisp colors, rolling hills, and brilliant yellow sky. (If you enjoy learning about beautiful art and master artists, you … Read more
In this post, I’ll walk you through how I painted Fraser Island, Sunset using oil paints, brushes, and palette knives. It features a striking sunset witnessed from the jetty, with brilliant warm lights, ambiguous shadows, and shimmering water. All up, it took about three and a half hours spread over a few sessions. (I also … Read more
Most people characterize Vincent van Gogh’s work for its bold, swirling strokes. But he was much more dynamic than just that. I have spent the last few weeks looking over his entire portfolio, including over 800 paintings, to get a feel for how he painted and his preferred techniques and processes. Here are my findings. … Read more
Now that 2023 is over, we should use this as an opportunity to review how it went and what we can do to make 2024 our best year yet. What Went Well What Didn’t Go Well Three Things to Focus on in 2024 Here are three things I want to focus on in 2024, excluding … Read more
I recently put the finishing touches on my painting Montville, Lush Greens, Rainy Day. This was a tricky one with all the plants, leaves, flowers, and trees weaving in and out of focus. All up, it took about five hours spread over several sessions. The last couple of hours were just spent tinkering and adjusting … Read more
A few years ago, I tried Ampersand Gessobord as the surface for my oil paintings. I had only ever used canvas up until that point, but I wanted a more sturdy alternative that wouldn’t get damaged by my sometimes rough strokes. Gessobord has since become my go-to surface for most paintings. This is my detailed … Read more
I recently published a video walking you through my painting, Perth Gardens. You can watch it below. The painting took about four hours spread over several sessions. The video shows you some of the broad steps and decisions I made along the way. If you don’t have time to watch the video, you can read … Read more