Students often tell me they want to “find their style.” It’s one of the most common goals I hear, right up there with wanting to “loosen up” or “master color.” But it’s the wrong question.
A quick note on weekly classes before we get into it
Claim your spot in Painting Nocturnes, Tuesday evenings or Painting Water, Monday evenings. Both are 6-9 PM, starting the week of August 17, 2026.
I upload videos of these online classes and you have access to them for as long as there’s YouTube. That means you can review them if you need a refresher or have to cut out early.
Style and voice aren’t the same thing.
Style is what’s left when we fail to achieve perfection. Practically speaking, style is the sum of the visual tools we use to try to get there: brushwork, color palette, paint handling, edges, whether you’re painterly or linear, high-key or tonal. These are all important, but they’re also constantly evolving. The worst thing you can do is lock yourself into something believing it’s your style. Your style should change as your technical skills and interests change. After all, you’re not still wearing skinny jeans, are you? Are you?
Voice is something else entirely.
Your voice is the why behind what you paint. It’s your way of seeing the world. It’s the thread that runs through your work even as your technique changes. It comes from your experiences, your curiosity, your temperament and the questions you ask every time you set up an easel.
Ironically, trying too hard to develop a recognizable style often delays finding your authentic voice. When you’re focused on looking like someone else—or even on looking consistently like yourself—you stop responding honestly to what’s in front of you.
Instead, ask better questions
- What drew you to this scene?
- What emotion does this place evoke?
- What deserves emphasis, and what can be left out?
Those decisions shape your paintings far more than any particular brushstroke ever will.
This is one reason I love teaching in the Berkshires. Its landscape is rich enough to inspire any painter, yet varied enough that no two artists respond to it the same way. Some are captivated by the rolling farmland, others by tumbling waterfalls, dense forests or historic villages. One painter sees dramatic light. Another notices subtle atmosphere. All are responding to their own authentic voice.
In my Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air workshop, we spend plenty of time discussing composition, value, color harmony and paint handling. Good technique matters. It gives you the vocabulary to express your ideas clearly.
Great technique is the twin-turbocharged V-8 that drives your painting. But your destination is your authentic voice.
Throughout the week, I’ll encourage you to make choices based on what genuinely interests you instead of what you think a successful painting is supposed to look like. We’ll talk about editing, simplifying, emphasis and trusting your own observations. We’ll talk about intent as much as execution, because the strongest paintings are built on clear ideas as well as sound craftsmanship.
If you’re ready to move beyond imitation, stop chasing someone else’s style, and develop paintings that reflect your own way of seeing, I’d love to paint alongside you this August in the Berkshires. Join me for my Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air workshop and discover how stronger observation, thoughtful technique and honest expression work together for stronger paintings.
Registration is now open for workshops in 2026! Reserve your spot:
- 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: