Watch Me Paint: World-Class Art, World-Class Instruction
I just finished teaching aboard the lovely and gracious American Eagle, now in her third year under Captain Tyler King. It was a week filled with painting discovery, adventure and great food (did I mention lobster?) and my students all progressed by leaps and bounds. I had time to whip off these two fast watercolors …
Drawing clouds—like everything else—is all about measuring angles and distances. But the nifty thing about clouds is that in two minutes they’re totally different. Sneaky little devils.
Every landscape painter should understand two-point perspective, but don’t draw those rays in the field. Midsummer, by Carol L. Douglas. It’s important to understand perspective, but don’t use those vanishing points when drawing in the field. A door is commonplace, but it’s also a series of repeating shapes that can teach you a lot about …
Everyone has a door somewhere in their house, right? It’s a great subject to practice drawing. I’m sure you have a door almost exactly like this one somewhere in your house. It’s commonplace, but it’s also a series of repeating shapes that can teach you a lot about perspective. I left it slightly ajar, but …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: Repeating shapes and perspective”
The rookie error for summer is to paint all foliage using the same basic color. You lose more points if it’s sap green. Bracken Fern, by Carol L. Douglas, 9X12, oil on canvasboard, $869. I’m in Malta, so I don’t know if this is timely or not, but we’re about due for the earliest color …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: mixing beautiful greens”
Math is the language that describes every function in our bodies, our planet and our universe. There’s no reason for an artist to be afraid of it.
There’s a fine line between sincerely-held opinions and mawkishness. We should have beliefs, but nobody can survive on a steady diet of drama. We all need humor, too.
There is no such thing as absolute realism in painting. Every style, even the most detailed, is a simplification and abstraction of reality.
The experiences where faith, beauty and practice intersect are very rare. I doubt I’ve had more than half a dozen of them in my career.
I don’t do anything well when I’m hot, tired, up against a deadline and thirsty. That means photographing paintings calmly and while there’s still gas in my tank.