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If there were any artist, past or present, into whose studio I could magically transport myself and observe him paint, it would be Claude Monet. I have always been intrigued by his painting style, especially his highly textured and complex surfaces. When I lived in New York, I spent many an hour at the...
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When I asked friends and colleagues about landscape painting artists with the best use of color, the conversation got downright heated. Mostly because there's so much to consider when you look at each individual artist's color "theory" or purpose they have for the painting. Color schemes...
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In a recent painting of mine, you can see the sky and clouds are the lightest value, the towering waves and rocks are the darkest, as they are more vertical to the light of the sky. The flat of the ocean is the second lightest of the values, equating to flat ground. Water (and snow) can be exceptions...
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I get excited and a bit chagrined whenever I discover oil painters of the past that I've never heard of. I realize that I'm no walking encyclopedia, yet I like to think I've got sound footing in oil painting . But the history of fine art oil painting is vast, so I'm going to cut myself...
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Don't give up your plein air focus over the winter months. Try to paint from life indoors and keep sketching. ( Melting Snow by Ben Fenske, 60 x 75, oil on canvas.) For some of us, winter weather is just a bit too unpredictable and chilly to spend much time outdoor painting. But if you're like...
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We spent a lot of painting time along the cliffs outside San Juan. Painting can be a pretty isolating affair, and though I love the alone time spent with my muse, I miss the collective energy that working in a group of like-minded colleagues provides. I also want to get better at painting, and though...
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Turquoise Sky 3 , acrylic on panel, 5 x 5. All works by Lisa Snow Lady. I give a lot of credit to professional and semi-professional artists who seek out ongoing training or the advice of peers, even after their initial successes. I firmly believe that working in a vacuum can be hazardous to one's...
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This short video is excerpted from a demonstration I gave at my annual plein air painting workshop in Skagit Valley, Washington. ( Gage Academy of Art , July, 2010.) The video talks about painting strategies in general and gives specific examples of the analogous harmony and complementary color methods...
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Upper Ridge at Dusk , 2011, oil on panel, 18 x 18 . Mt. Shuksan in Sunlight , 2010, oil on panel, 12 x 12. At my April 2011 exhibition at Lisa Harris Gallery, I gave an hour-long presentation on my "In Sunlight" series. This was a special opportunity for artists and laypersons to get a "studio...
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Sonata of the Sea--Finale by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, 1908. One of my favorite movements in art is the Symbolist movement of the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. The artists were so free in exploring what mattered to them—personal narrative, rich histories and mythologies, and even...
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I want to share an inspiring story I just heard from one of our members, Mark Beale . Enjoy! Bryce Canyon by Bruce Stam, oil painting, 8 x 10. Backwater Twilight by Mark Beale, oil painting, 9 x 12. Bruce Stam and I are two landscape painters from opposite sides of the country who gravitated to each...
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Lee's Ranch - Sunny Day by Camille Przewodek, 9 x 12, oil on canvas. Even now it sounds like a beautiful, incredible, impossible thing to accomplish. I mean, paint light ? It seemed like magic to me at first. And I didn't understand what it all entailed. That changed after I heard Camille Przewodek...
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During this time of year I like to reflect upon and appreciate all the blessings in my life (...also eat a lot of carbs and watch TV marathons). But lately I've been dwelling on how lucky we are to have so much amazing art created and inspired by the American landscape. I would have no problem filling...
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Optimal Orientation of Subject and Artist in Plein Air Before the first daub of paint is squeezed out of the tube and brush is put to canvas, many plein air painters have already set themselves up for failure. How? By selecting a site that doesn't translate well into painting. Just because a scene...
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Demonstration: Exploring Composition Through a Limited Focus A "limited focus" isn't limiting at all, but expands our options in composition The first compositional move any painter makes is to apply a limited focus. Whether it be a still life, an interior, a figure, or a landscape (which...