Online painting classes are a brilliant way to learn to paint. If you’ve never done them, you should give them a try.
What’s coming up in my online painting classes
On Mondays, I’ll be teaching two subject-based three-week sessions, and on Tuesday a longer, more in-depth session.
I’m reoffering Painting Clouds because last time it sold out in 24 hours (there’s a fifteen-student limit for my Zoom classes). If you’re interested, don’t shilly-shally; it’s painful to have to tell my friends no.
Before that, we’ll tackle the next-most-difficult subject in landscape painting: water and reflections. I’m hoping, in these shorter sessions, to get through the things that are the hardest during plein air season. Because of the shorter format, they’re also the perfect opportunity to give online painting classes a try.
Monday evenings, 6-9 PM: June 1, 8, 15
Light, surface, and movement are the three important elements in painting water. If you don’t organize those three, you end up chasing ripples. Water is one subject where photos absolutely lie, because they freeze the motion that defines the sea.
We’ll focus on:
- Reflection: How does the surface of water affect what you see? Where do reflections end up?
- How edges and wave shapes describe motion in different kinds of seas;
- How perspective works across the water;
- Color and light on water (the ocean is very big and often surprising);
- And more!
By the end of session three, you’ll have completed water studies and developed the confidence to tackle water paintings on your own. Class size is limited, claim your spot now!
Monday evenings, 6-9 PM: June 22, 29, July 6
Clouds are the ultimate teacher. They strip away the noise and force us to focus on the core of great painting: value, light, and composition. This short, 3-session class is designed to be a low-pressure way to sharpen your eye.
We’ll focus on:
- Understanding how clouds form and the different kinds of clouds;
- Capturing the unique volume of clouds, and applying our perspective skills to their shapes;
- Studying the color and value of light and shadow within clouds;
- Special lighting situations like sunset.
By the end of session three, you’ll have completed sky studies and the confidence to tackle the skies on your own. Class size is limited, claim your spot now!
Tuesday evenings, 6-9 PM: June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, July 7
A studio painting is never just an enlarged version of an oil sketch. A sketch can serve as our starting point, but it needs a broader concept to make a finished painting. Simply enlarging a sketch leads to empty passages and lifeless results. The larger the canvas, the more skill is required to keep the painting vital.
This is a class idea that’s grown from years of discussion with my students. Those unfinished sketches littering your studio are the seeds from which you’ll work. That mass of unfinished paintings will suddenly prove their worth.
The seed of a studio painting might be a small oil or watercolor painting, a drawing in your sketchbook, or a series of items. In these smaller works, we focus primarily on color or value relationships. We compose as well as possible within a limited time and we draw to the best of our ability. However, our main concern is capturing big forms, shapes or ideas. Even these must be reconsidered, refined and thoughtfully to make a larger studio painting.
Your first job for this class is going to be to sit down on the floor and go through all your smaller work (finished and unfinished, good and not-so-good) and sort them into general concepts.
Look at them intelligently, and your body of ideas will begin to crystalize into a Big Idea. Eventually, by sketching and thinking, you’ll develop a complete image to move forward. We won’t start painting until we’ve thought the image out as completely as if it were on canvas.
One of our first decisions will be the format of the canvas; will the subject be best expressed in a horizontal, square or vertical shape?
In addition to helping you realize larger paintings, this class should also give you the courage to stop overworking your plein air and studio sketches. Reserve your spot now!
Registration is now open for workshops in 2026! Reserve your spot:
- Advanced Plein Air Painting | Rockport, ME, July 13-17, 2026
- Sea & Sky | Acadia National Park, ME, August 2–7, 2026
- Find your Authentic Voice in Plein Air | Berkshires, MA, August 10-14, 2026
- New! Color Clinic 2026 | Rockport, ME, October 3-4, 2026
- New! Composition Week 2026 | Rockport, ME, October 5-9, 2026
Can’t commit to a full workshop? Work online at your own pace: