Paints, palettes and products; Which end of the brush to use; How to wiggle the brush, etc.

These classes will evolve as time unfolds, and will include other media. However, I plan to work initially in oil or watercolor. Please note, I use all media in a similar fashion, whether oil, acrylic, watercolor, or even charcoal.

Introducing The 12 Lights : How to be a winner at the art of painting

I would like to preface this chapter by giving complete credit for my understanding of painting light to my mentor, Dick Turner of Houston who, so far as I know, was the first to assign numbers to lights.

You are about to be given the fundamental and, in my opinion, the most important tools you can ever own as a representational painter:  How to identify and paint the 12 lights.

The Kingdom of Light (Where Light Hits!)

High lights increase the illusion of form while describing the contour of the form in light. Light ricochets off objects, particles and even humidity, softly illuminating the shadow sides of objects for us.

Think of this exercise as a variation of the basic red ball…

There are many ways to practice painting by choosing variations on the basic red ball exercise.  My students have practiced upon a myriad of still life objects such as apples, oranges, pears….  We vary the exercise by placing them in front of a crumpled paper sack for the interesting shapes they create.

I love to paint horses, whether I’m working from photos, sketches, or from life.

If you’re a beginner to painting, it’s prudent to start painting horses from a photograph, and I mean a good photograph!

Referring to the basic red ball exercise, you will see that I created about 4-5 shapes of higher, cleaner, smaller planes of light to create form.  On Oceano, I use exactly the same approach, but this time using different shapes.

Do you want to learn how to paint horses, from life, with happy, expressive brushwork?  During the next lesson series, I am going to share how I approach the art of horse painting.  Join fellow painters all over the world…It’s fun!

Fast, free, fun oil painting demo/lesson of a beautiful horse!

Meet the grand Thoroughbred Lizard.  Lizard belongs to Amanda, who very graciously is allowing us to paint her beautiful horse.

It was a particularly brisk, chilly morning in Aiken, South Carolina.  We had a young, vibrant horse as our model and our hands were freezing, so my fellow painters opted to watch my demonstration.  The odds are against you on such a morning, but there are certain things that you can do to to give yourself a chance of success.

The first thing we saw soon after we were born, and have seen just about every day since, are faces and people.  So why are painters so panic-stricken about painting portraits and people?

In the following lesson/demo we will demystify and simplify the process of painting the people and faces.

I’d like to introduce you to the concept of “3 bands” of underlying colors across the human face.

I will explain the bands step-by-step as we paint them.

I decided to do the demo in two parts:  First, my own version of a ‘gresaille’ technique, which would enable me to rapidly capture Lauren’s likeness and gesture, in monochrome, then; Secondly, glaze the color on afterwards, using just 3 transparent Golden brand fluid acrylics:  Teal blue, quinachridone crimson, and quinachridone gold (back row).

For Lauren and I, it shall forever stand as a beautiful moment in time, in a perfect environment for two people who love art.  Who would want to cover up that … just to make a pretty painting?  Certainly not us! 

For those of us lucky enough to have an iPad or a smart phone, there are several apps to chose from that allow us to be creative wherever we are, so long as we have our “smart tablet” with us.

I have some great news:  You can practice learning how to see and paint the planes of light on a human face at any time, any place, and with very few, inexpensive materials.

The Story of the “Oogah-boogah” hormones.

I’d like to share with you a story that, I hope, will provide a fun way for you to understand the differences between feminine and masculine features, as it relates to painting.