Learning from Mistakes

If mistakes never bothered us, we’d keep making them.

The frustration we feel when we make a mistake is what makes the lesson stick.

Over time we develop a kind of reflex and begin to feel a mistake coming before we make it. That’s why a little hesitation before a paint stroke is so powerful.

That pause takes some  getting used to because it disrupts your rhythm. Stay with it anyway.

As beginners we make mistakes we don't even see.

With experience we see them after the fact.

With mastery we sense them in advance. Pure intuition.

One of the best ways to accelerate this is to paint the same subject twice—or even three times—and apply what the previous studies taught you.

If you're returning,  give this a try for our next class.

Same subject, back to back, in the same session if you can manage it.

Keep the composition simple and small to account for any time limitations.

Questions, let me know.
Hope to see you next week,

“It looks like a photo..."
is almost always meant as a compliment to a realist painter.

Just don’t make it the goal.

A better goal i to let the painting feel painted rather than recorded.

For September 30

Set up a simple still life with two objects of your choice–similar or identical if possible

Place one object closer to you and the second object farther back in the space.

  1. Paint both objects simply.
  2. Keep the front object clearer, with firmer edges and more tonal changes..
  3. Soften edges on the object farther back. Use less chroma and a narrower tonal range, i.e., flatter.
  4. Avoid giving both objects the same feeling of presence..

Goal:
Make the space between the two objects feel believable.

The second object should feel as though there is air between you and it.

 

Atmosphere

Notes from September 23

Depth is where things sit in space.

Atmosphere is the look of air in that space.

We can suggest it with:

  • Bristle brushes and visible brushwork
  • Generous paint
  • Some opacity when layering
  • Muted color
  • Soft and sharp edges

One of the great strengths of oil paint is its versatility—thin and thick, transparent and opaque, sharp and soft, quiet and active.

Both depth and atmosphere will move a painting away from that photographic look. The more realistic the work the more it needs some relaxed-looking passages.

Tip:
In a landscape, forms on a distant horizon become lighter, paler, and are often close to the sky tone– there will be less change in the middle ground

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For September 23

Quick & Simple Block-In–
Landscape Study

A quick start and simple color combinations bring looseness and vigor to the work while saving your energy for later challenges.

Some of these combinations are noted in the videos that follow.

You can get close to the tones you want to create with just two or three colors to start. The nuances can wait.

Two-color combinations are easy to mix, and they interact well.

Some examples:

White–Raw Umber (neutral highlight)
White–Naples Yellow (warm highlight)
White–Ultramarine (cool sky blue)
Yellow Ochre Light–Alizarin (warm red)
Raw Sienna–Alizarin (middle red-brown)
Sap Green–Alizarin (deep umber)
Ivory Black–Alizarin (warm black or accent)
White–Black (cool grey)
Cobalt–Burnt Sienna (smoky blue)

Try this approach on a landscape study of your choice–limited palette, simple combinations.

If you'd like to use a cloth for the block-in, please do. The directness and simplicity of using two colors with very broad strokes will energize the work and save a load of time.

Just remember to prioritize values over hue in the beginning.

Upload Your Work Here

See you next week!

Class Notes–September 16

Depth vs Focus

Depth tells us where something is in space.

Focus tells us where the painter wants us to look.

Two different qualities that  sometimes overlap, but they don’t have to.

Something can be close but not be the focal point. Something distant can carry the attention.

The foreground might say “I’m close.”

The middle ground: “Look here.”

Distance says: “There’s more space beyond.”

Thick or paint or texture suggest closeness. Careful rendering creates focus.

Sharpness, contrast or detail pull the eye farther back into the painting.

Near does not necessarily mean important.

Distant does not necessarily mean secondary.

Vision & Progress

Our vision is the most reliable tool we have.

But it’s not 100% reliable.

Sometimes we’re clearly off. More often, we’re just a little off—barely noticeable.

Here’s the paradox–
we use our vision to discover what our vision got wrong.

As the painting develops, small problems become visible.

They usually aren’t new mistakes. They were already there. We just couldn’t see them yet.

Too much of the painting was still unresolved. Once one area gets clearer, another problem reveals itself.

That’s how a painting progresses.

Good move → reveals a problem
Resolve it → reveals another
Resolve that → see something else

This can create some emotional ups and downs. The painting suddenly looks worse and it can feel like we went backward.

But the painting didn’t regress.
Our ability to see it improved.

Stay calm.
Keep looking.
And don't stress when you find a problem.

We actually want to find problems. Seeing them is progress.
It means the eye is becoming more refined.

September–Week 1

Depth

The key here is spending a disproportionate amount of time in a few specific areas–

The foreground in particular.

It might seem illogical and it might feel strange.

Until you remember that our eyes don't see everything with equal clarity—our minds tend to impose sameness onto everything we look at. Especially when we try too hard.

Most of the time painting the demos above was spent on the lower third of the composition.

The temptation to move around was there. But depth only happens when we stubbornly work the areas with the most information, i.e. color, contrast, form, etc.

The rest fades away and won't be missed.

This is how we create depth, giving the viewer the sense that they can step into the art.

For next week, try a subject similar to this one—where there is the clear feeling of some areas receding into the distance and others advancing toward the viewer. As much as 75% of your time can be spent on the latter.

It could be a landscape or an interior—still life can work too, as long as there's some space behind the subject.

This is great lesson to learn, so enjoy.

Two Goals in Painting

Painters are sometimes pulled in two directions.

On one hand, there’s the desire to improve.

On the other, there’s the desire to make something beautiful.

These two goals don’t always cooperate.

Improving requires risk—trying the unfamiliar, losing control a bit, and often not liking the result.

It can feel clumsy, discouraging.

But making strong, beautiful work often comes from working within what we already know—staying in familiar territory, where we feel confident.

The key is understanding the tension.

If every painting is meant to be “good,” growth slows.

If every painting is an experiment, it’s hard to build momentum.

A healthy practice makes room for both.

Over time, these two paths support each other.

Don’t judge your work too quickly. Ask instead: What was this piece for?