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Isn't there something wonderful about standing high on a hilltop, the landscape falling beneath you? You're King of the mountain! The lesson for Tuesday in our August week-long workshop in Maine was Aerial, or Atmospheric Perspective. As objects recede, the atmosphere makes colors cooler and lighter. Yellow is the first color to drop out, leaving blue, cool red, and white. Details and the contrast between shadow and light are also reduced.

We set up at the Belgrade Golf Club, high on the hill. I painted this in the morning when the clouds hung low over the Seven Lakes. We were having so much fun that we stayed all day until the manager politely asked if we were about finished. It seems we had closed the place down!

If you would like to take an intense week-long workshop on oil painting, color mixing, and drawing with paint, please let me know. The workshop will be the first week of the new year, January 4-8, from 10:00 to 4:00. Places are limited, so I'm taking reservations now. What a perfect time to jumpstart your painting practice! Time flies when you're having fun.

My granddaughter, Maddie, asked me to paint the family dog, Willow. I love commissions, and she is a delight to please, so I agreed. However, when she picked up the dog, all I could see was her cute face peeking out from behind Willow. Naturally, I had to include her in the portrait, right? With this painting, I used two very different techniques: Direct, or wet-on-wet, and Indirect, with glazes. Direct painting has been popular since before the Impressionists. The artist mixes colors on the palette and applies them to the canvas wet-on-wet. That's the way I painted the dog and the background. Indirect is an Old Master technique. First, you do an underpainting value study, like a black-and-white photo. Then you glaze transparent colors over the value study to get the colors you want. You have to wait for each layer to dry, so this method takes longer, but I like the depth and luminosity this technique affords. Maddie is painted using this method. Most new students in my studio learn indirect painting techniques first. Then we can move on to color mixing and direct painting, but I find teaching both methods expands their knowledge. And we all know, Knowledge is Power!

During our week-long workshop in Maine, the third-day lesson was on painting buildings. Most artists avoid structures involving perspective, so the video above is a lesson in "Perspective Made Easy." However, I would also like to discuss how brushes can help the process. First, you need a stiff, flat brush in multiple sizes. Thinly wash a shadow color over the entire building, and then use the brush to pick out the lights from the shadows. You can describe a clapboard building with long strokes or bricks with short stacked strokes. In the painting above, I initially hesitated to put the picket fence at the bottom of the painting. I was afraid a strong dark against a strong light would draw your eye down, so I painted the fence slightly darker and hit the light in the building with a warm yellow light and thick paint.

My classes in Houston have just started, so if you would like to learn how to paint, contact me here. Also, I am planning a week-long workshop in my Houston studio January 4-8, 2027. This will be an intensive 5-day dive into oil painting for beginners to advanced. Places are limited to 8.

No matter how well-traveled you are, a new place always holds lovely surprises. I have visited Maine before, but stayed close to the coast. This trip, we ventured into Maine's interior with charming old New England villages, lakes, and mountains! Our host at Seven Lakes Inn suggested we try painting at the nearby public golf course, with high views of the lakes and mountains. Everyone was friendly, so we set up under a tree near the practice putting green. Suddenly, I noticed a stand of trees that looked like Quaking Aspens! Who Knew? I imagine that with old-growth forests and stands of aspens, Maine is spectacular in the Fall! If you want to visit, I would highly recommend Seven Lakes Inn in Belgrade. Their contact information is [email protected]

One important tip for plein air painting is to start MANY small sketches. You don't have to finish them on location, but starting them helps you decide on the composition and what the painting is about. Place the big shapes in the darkest colors, but plan for the lights. Naturally, I knew this painting would be about the Kayak, so I placed the horizon line high, with the strongest value contrast between the boat and the rocks. The light from the clouds was a warm peach, complementing the blue kayak. The light streaking through the trees led your eye to the boat, and the sparkle on the water made it sparkle as well! The more paintings you start, the sooner you develop as an artist.