My Approach to Painting the Landscape in Oils

8/2/2019 My Approach to Painting the Landscape in Oils

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© Mike Callahan 2008 All Rights Reserved

My Approach to Painting the Landscape in Oils

By Mike Callahan




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"How dull might the world be without clouds and mountains and trees? How utterly drab without people, animals,

lakes and streams? And how lifeless the walls that surround us without paintings of such things to take their

places when we can’t immediately go and see them?"I am compelled to paint such things; inspiring things that evoke memories or spark the imagination keeping theinsipid well at bay…”



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Introduction

I have always been fascinated by the world of beauty that

surrounds me. From my earliest memories I’ve thought how

dull might the world be without clouds and mountains and

trees? How utterly drab without people, animals, lakes and

streams? And how lifeless the walls that surround us without

paintings of such things to take their places when we can’t

immediately go and see them? I can remember looking at

landscape paintings as a child and imagining the story behind it

- how an animal may play or eat there, how a traveler may pass

by, or any number of other stories. The landscape tells a story.

I am compelled to paint such things; inspiring things that

evoke memories or spark the imagination and that keep the

insipid well at bay. I have been compelled to since first

picking up the pencil at an early age and realizing I could draw

(albeit in a very rudimentary fashion).

I have been drawing and painting since. My family has

always been supportive of my art so I was encouraged to draw

and paint growing up. One of my favorite things that I was

privileged to do was to go to painting lessons once a week after

school. I was also privileged to grow up in one of the most

beautiful and diverse areas in the world. I grew up out in the

landscape and that has had a definite influence on the subject

matter I most often choose to paint – the Sierra landscape.

Each painting I do is an extension of myself. There is

something nagging at me on the inside that just has to come out

and be put down on the canvas - something that’s more than

you could photograph, more than you could even manipulate

digitally. If I can’t paint I get antsy.

Painting is an amazing thing. A good painting has the

ability to arrest a viewer’s attention and hold it for a while.

Like a good book, a good painting can transport you elsewhere.

I try to make each painting dramatic, not the cheesy kind of

dramatic, but the awe inspiring dramatic that makes you want

to stop and look twice. I try to make my landscapes

somewhere you want to be.

Each painting is also a growth piece; I’m continually

striving and attempting to grow as an artist. Where I want to



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artists face to face or directly under their tutelage, I have

listened to what they have had to say and have tried to ingest

their wisdom and employ their methods in places I knew I was

lacking. So, instead of being “self-taught”, perhaps a better

term might be self-directed. I have learned a great deal from

books, some from DVDs and have additionally made a great

number of discoveries through many attempts to employ these

methods and simply the diligent discipline of painting.

And so, my friend, it is the purpose of this book to bring a

bit of that back around and give to you some knowledge and

advice that you might use to advance yourself to a higher plane

of painting; to help you where you may be experiencing the

frustration of not knowing how or having the boldness to

undertake the painting you know you have inside you waiting

to get out and onto the canvas. Though I am opinionated, to be

sure, I will try not to burden you with rules because great

painting is far from that simple. Painting can’t be broken down

into such things as “always do this”, or “never do that”. As art

itself is subjective, so to some degree is the manner in which

we create it. I will, instead, endeavor to impart a great number

of principles that you may draw upon and add to your skills to

make you a better painter and help you paint better paintings.

This work will in no way be exhaustive as I don’t have the time

or discipline to write everything I know (after all, I still have

paintings to do myself), nor have I learned all that I one day

shall as I continuously strive toward a higher plane myself.

What I hope this work will do is give you some great

foundation so that as you build your own library of knowledge

and skills you will be able to paint with confidence and joy

accurately and adequately putting down on canvas that which

you see and feel within your own self.




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Basic Supplies

Rule number one…oh, wait a minute, I said I wouldn’t giveyou rules…o.k., principle number one: always purchase the

best materials you can afford. There is no point in buyinginferior materials. One may argue that the student should usecheaper materials, but since you are striving to paint great paintings, what if you happen to really paint something nicewhile you still consider yourself a student? Something youmight want to last a good long time? Something your grandchildren might want to have and pass on to their childrenand grandchildren? And you have gone and used cheapmaterials that are unstable and degrade in a matter of a fewyears! If you start out using cheap materials, at what point willyou consider yourself accomplished enough to upgrade to better materials? I know a great painter who buys mineral

spirits by the gallon at the hardware store, not to clean his brushes with, but to thin his paint with! Why? He saves a buck or two, but there are a number of impurities in hardwarestore mineral spirits that could cause his paint to break downeventually. Art is meant to last and quality material made toexacting standards, free of acid and archival is what should beused to create lasting work.

Now that I’ve had my little tirade, let me tell you what youshould have in your studio. Or rather, let me tell you what Ihave in my studio…from that, you decide what you would

have in yours.

Substrate

I typically paint on cotton duck canvas.I usually use Dick Blick’s premium primed7oz. cotton duck canvas that comes on aroll 63” wide by 6 yards wide.(www.dickblick.com) There are a greatvariety of roll canvas out there and as far asI can tell, Dick Blick’s canvas is virtually

identical to another name brand 7oz.canvas. At any rate, I then cut my canvas

from the roll as I need it and stretch it myself on Blick’s heavy

duty stretcher bars. I prefer stretching my own canvas becauseI can stretch it as tight as I like, but mainly because I canchoose any size I want, standard or not. You can, however, purchase canvas already stretched. If you choose to go thatroute, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that, then Irecommend you purchase Fredrix Red Label pre-stretched as itis their 7oz. medium weave. It has a very nice consistenttexture and is great for painting on. Of course, feel free to shoparound, just be careful of some of the lesser known brands.

I’m not saying they are all inferior, but I once tried some off

brand that was “highly recommended” by the local art storeand while the weave was nice, whatever they used to prime thecanvas (that’s the stuff that makes it white and it should be acidfree and archival) must have been laced with marble dust or something because I completely wore out several good bristle brushes over the course of one painting! I doubt I’d wear out



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brushes like that in a hundred paintings on Fredrix or Blick!My point is, once again, don’t try to cheap out.

I also paint on RayMar panels which are hardboard panels

that have canvas adhered to them. I use these primarily when I paint en plein air, but I’ll use them in the studio from time totime as well when I want to paint something 12” x 16” or smaller. They come in a variety of sizes (even larger) but youhave to buy them in a 10 pack. These are really the best panelsI have ever found (www.raymarart.com); they are backed withmelamine are flat and do not warp at all! Watch out for other

brands that are made of fiber board or even birch panels, because they warp like crazy and I find that incredibly

annoying.

Another perfectly acceptable option, especially if you arelooking to save on cost, is to paint on primed hardboard. Thissubstrate you can prepare easily yourself if you have access toa table saw or know someone who can cut some board for you.Merely go to your local lumber supplier and purchase a sheetof masonite or hardboard. A 4’x 8’ sheet costs less than $10.Cut the sheet to the sizes you want to paint on and then purchase some acrylic gesso and coat your sheets with it on thesmooth side. You can coat it with one or two coats and apply it

as roughly or smoothly as you want. Once dry you can even

sand it if you want a super smooth surface to paint on.Personally, I like to leave quite a bit of texture on mine, so Islop it on with a big house painting brush and usually onlyapply one coat.

The last substrate I typically use is linen. Linen is madefrom flax and is extremely strong, durable and is truly awonderful surface to paint on. Linen is very expensive and so I

don’t use it for everything. I use oil primed super-smoothweave Belgian or Russian oil-primed linen to paint on whendoing portraits, but for everything else, I usually use the quality

canvas I discussed above.

Brushes

I use essentially two basic types of

brushes: hog bristle, synthetic bristle. Thesynthetic brushes I use are Prnceton Best

6300 series and Connoisseur Pure

Synthetic 2100 series. I like the synthetic brushes because they really take a lot of abuse but then still clean up like new.When I go into the field or even paint inthe studio, I often end up leaving my brushes just wiped off with thinner which can wreak havoc onsome brushes, but not these. I’ll discuss the cleaner/restorer Iuse in a bit, but for now let it suffice to say these brushes cleanup great and return to their original shape wonderfully after

clean-up. I use these brushes when I really want to see my

strokes distinctly in my paint and when I want nice crisp edgesto a shape (which isn’t always). Bristle brushes come in avariety of shapes (bright, flat, filbert, round, etc.). I mostly use brights, which are much like flats, with a square straight edge, but a little shorter. The advantage for me is that brights tend tohave a little more snap and generally tend to leave a better defined shape. The length of a flat tends to give the bristles a




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little too much flex for my liking and to me they tend to feel alittle “wimpy”. I don’t strictly use brights, however; I do havea few flats and filberts in my brush jar. I also have a few

rounds, which are great for details like small branches and thelike and as such, I tend to stick with smaller rounds.

The hog bristle brushes I like are Winsor & NewtonWinton Hog Bristle brushes. These brushes are considered byretailers to be “student” grade brushes, but I have no idea why.Even Winsor & Newton’s own description says they are madefrom the finest Chinese handset hog bristles. I find them to be

a terrific brush and if the “student” designation gives them a better price, then so much the better for us! (On a side note,

this does not negate my initial assertion to purchase the best

materials you can afford – if the best happens to be veryaffordable, great! Notice I said buy the best, not necessarilythe most expensive! While expensive often equals quality, it isnot always necessarily true.)

At any rate, hog bristles are much the same as thesynthetics, but they can be loaded up with lots more paint andcan lay it on nice and thick. You can also really press and digwith these to achieve wonderful effects in your brushwork.They are extremely strong and durable brushes, however they

do require a bit more care than a synthetic. They have more of

a tendency to accumulate paint down toward the ferule (themetal part of the brush next to the handle that the hair iscrimped in) and as such need more thorough and moreimmediate cleaning. If you don’t get all the paint out and itsets up, it will force your bristles to begin to splay. Once a brush reaches that state, it’s really at a point of no return; Ihave never been able to get one returned to its original shape

regardless of any amount of cleaning. Many people oftenthrow such an abused brush away at that point, but don’t, because even an abused, splayed out bristle brush has its use.

I’ll talk about that later when discussing edge quality.Brushes come in a variety of sizes often given simple

numbers, i.e. size 2, size 4, etc. Don’t buy one of every size;you won’t need them. Generally, the higher the number, thelarger the brush and usually a good website or art supply storewill give you the actual dimensions for the size of the particular brand and shape you are looking for. Suffice it to

say, I tend to have even sizes ranging from 2 thru 14 of brightsand flats and maybe a size 1 and 2 of the rounds. You will

eventually try other shapes, like filberts for instance and will

develop a preference for what works best for you, but to startwith, I recommend getting a size 1 round, and one each of sizes2, 4, 8, and 12 of both hog bristle and synthetic bristle. Thiswill be a fine assortment to work with until you find what you prefer best.

At the end of each painting session, dip your brushes inWeber Turpenoid (a wonderful odorless turpentine substitute)and then soak them for a bit in Winsor & Newton BrushCleaner Restorer. Pour this into a short can (olive cans work

great) and make sure it’s deep enough to cover the bristles, but

not deeper than the ferrule as it will dissolve the paint on your paint handles too! After soaking anywhere from an hour or two to overnight, clean your brush with some mild handdishwashing detergent and water by swirling the brush withsoap around in a circular motion pressing it into the palm of your hand. Rinse and repeat a couple of times till you aren’tseeing any pigment coming off the brush and then with brush



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still wet, rub it around in a cake of Master’s Brush Cleaner andPreserver working up a nice lather. Once done, reshape your brush with your finger tips and lay your brush flat allowing the

Master’s Cleaner and Preserver to dry right into the brush.When you are ready to paint again, dip your brush intoTurpenoid again a couple of times wiping it on a paper toweland you will then have a like-new brush to begin painting with.

Enough about brushes, let’s move on…

Knives

When it comes to painting, there are two general types of knives that I find useful: palette knives and painting knives.Palette knives are typically more rigid and are designed to beused primarily for mixing paint on a palette. Painting knives,on the other hand are typically very flexible and are used moreso for applying paint directly to your painting.

The bottom half of my painting, “Wild Mustangs” shownhere, was painted solely with a painting knife.

I do quite often, however, when using knives, use palette

knives and painting knives interchangeably, using a paintingknife to mix with and a palette knife to apply paint. There areno absolute rules about this, like most things in painting, soexperiment and do what works for you.

There are also a great number of shapes and sizes of both palette and painting knives available so I recommend that youexperiment to see what works for you. For a basic start

however, I recommend you get one each palette and paintingknife in a pie shape. I have Liquitex and a Langnickel brand. Ihave experimented a bit with other shapes, but have not foundmuch that works any better for me than the basic pie shapes. Idon’t recommend that you bother with the plastic ones either,they just aren’t the same as a good stainless steel, especially the painting knives; they are neither as flexible nor as durable.




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Thinner and Medium

Thinner and medium are two different things and should beused for different purposes. As previously mentioned, I useWeber Turpenoid as a thinner. This product is essentially a purified odorless mineral spirit. I use it mainly for cleaning my brushes while painting, that is to say, if I want to change color using the same brush and don’t want to pollute the one color

with the other, I will dip my brush into a bit of Turpenoid andwipe it with a paper towel. I will repeat this process several

times if need be till most of the pigment is out of the brush and

at that point I can load it with the next color without pollutingit. I also use it in like manner to clean off my brush initially if I’m switching to another brush or taking a break so as not toleave paint on the brush to set up and harden later. I onlyactually thin my paint with the thinner to apply to my canvas if it’s an initial layer used to tone the canvas. Later, when Idiscuss the principle of “fat over lean,” I’ll expand on this andexplain my reasoning behind it.

As I begin to paint subsequent layers of paint, I thin or

extend my paint with medium instead of thinner. I typically

mix a little medium in when mixing colors as well. Onceagain, I’ll get more into the reason for this when discussing “fatover lean.” The medium I use is M. Graham’s Walnut Oil andAlkyd Medium. If you are a purist and don’t want to introducealkyd (a resin) into your paint, you could use Walnut oil,Linseed oil or other acceptable artist’s grade of oil. Just so youknow, if you choose to use Winsor & Newton’s Liquin, you

will be using alkyd as you will be if you use Gamblin’sGalkyd.

Palette

For years I used a disposable paper palette, something Ialways knew as a strip palette as you can strip off each sheet asyou are finished with it. I have heard artists ridicule this sort of palette as amateurish. I find such an assertion elitist and

somewhat nonsensical. This sort of palette is practical andeconomical and I say if you are comfortable using it then by all

means, do. It has one disadvantage when using it in the field –

that being if it is windy the wind can tear your page up and flopyour paint all over the place. This didn’t happen to me toooften and there are things you can do to overcome it like bringingalong a few binder clipsor a largerubber band.The

advantage of

using thissort of palette asidefrom theeconomyand easyclean up is



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that you can tear your page up only half way and fold it over your paints if you haven’t made too big a mess on your paletteand save your paints for use the next day or back in the studio.

I eventually quit using the disposable palette simply because it wasn’t stiff enough. I started using a wooden paletteI had that came with my French easel one day after running outof sheets on a disposable one. I liked it for two reasons: one, because it was a nice rigid surface and two, the wood “color”upon which I was mixing my paint was similar in tone to thetoned surface that I typically like to work on so my mixture on

my palette appeared close to the way it would appear when Iapplied it to my canvas. It was also light, durable and portable.

To this day, I use my wood palette when painting en plein

air, however, in the studio I have switched to using a glasssurface on a painting table (shown previous page.) I absolutelylove the glass surface for working on and recommend it for thestudio. The obvious disadvantage would be that it isn’t too portable so use in the field is not a possibility.

There are other options available as well such as acrylic palettes. The bottom line is: your choice of a palette is a matter of personal preference. Use what you like and don’t let anyonetell you “real artists don’t use those.”

Paint

I use M.Graham oils

exclusively. I love the walnut oilas a binder and their paint isalways nice and buttery right outof the tube. The colors I use areTitanium White, PthalocyanineBlue, Hansa Yellow, andQuinicridone Rose. That’s it.

With those colors I have not found a color I cannot mix. Iswitched to this limited palette years ago after having resisted

the idea for a long time. My thinking was that why on earth

did I want to spend my time mixing colors rather than painting.Then one day it dawned on me, I never used any color straightout of the tube anyway, I was always mixing colors. I gave thelimited palette a try and after experimenting with a couple of different yellows, I landed on the three colors I use today. Iabsolutely love the simplicity of it! I find it very easy to matcha color I have previously mixed and then run out of. After all,it has to be some combination of only three colors whereas inthe past when I ran out of a color I mixed I always labored to

mix it again because I couldn’t necessarily remember every

tube color I had used. There was a possibility that it could have been nine or ten colors – or five or seven!To explain my color mixing system, while simple, would

go beyond the scope of this book, so if you want to know more,make sure to sign up for my tutorial newsletter as this will giveyou access to other pdf files where I discuss color mixing infar greater detail




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(http://www.mikecallahanart.com/paintingtips/ptsignup.html).I will be featuring tutorials in the newsletter too. For now,suffice it to say, these three colors are the purest primaries I’ve

ever found and with a little knowledge of color-theory, you caneasily mix or match any color you desire.

Easels

You are going to need an easel. There are many varieties

of easels ranging in price from probably about twenty dollarsall the way up into the thousands.

If you are going to paint outdoors – en

plein air – then you will probably wantsome sort of French easel, something youcan fold up and carry with you and preferable carry your supplies in too.There are lots of these available online andin art stores and anadequate one starts ataround $100.

For studio work, there are literally

hundreds of different options. There are

table easels which are basically easels withshort or no legs that set up on a table. Thesecan usually be folded for easy storage andthey usually work fine for work up to acertain size.

For really large work, you are going to want some sort of astanding easel. I have an “H” style easel that is shaped

something like, well…an “H”. It has a lot of adjustments andcan handle a canvas of at least 40” x 60”. I know this as this isthe largest painting I have done on it, however, one day I’ll

probably test its limits and go larger. These sorts of easels arereasonably priced and I find mine invaluable. I have mountedthree lights with daylight CFL bulbs onto the top and I get nicecolor-balanced light in the studioeven at 4:30 a.m.

Miscellaneous other supplies

If you draw on your canvas with pencil or charcoal prior to painting, you obviously will need a pencil or two or a stick of charcoal and you might want to get a can of workable fixativeso that you don’t obliterate your drawing as you begin to apply paint. I typically don’t do a drawing like that when I beginunless it’s a figure or a portrait; I merely draw with a small brush and thin paint in most cases which for painting the

landscape works well for me.

Another essential is towels for wiping brushes and mishapswith. I like to use Kimberly Clark Wyp-Alls. They are reallythick, super absorbent towels. Regular paper towels such asBounty are o.k. but far from the Wyp-All in my book. If youare going to use paper towels from the grocery store, Irecommend Viva – they are the closest to the Wyp-Alls thatI’ve found.



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Some artists use cloth towels and throw them away whensaturated the same way I do with my paper towels. Somehowthat seems more problematic to me, but, if you would prefer

rags to paper towels, then by all means go ahead and use them.I also might mention is a mahl stick. A mahl stick is just

that, a stick used for steadying your hand when painting linesor details. I don’t actually have an official mahl stick, but Ihave a piece of 1” x 1” poplar that’s about 36” long that was ascrap from something I built. It works to support my hand finewhen I need it too (I just rest it on the edge of my canvas since

it doesn’t have the fancy leather knob at the end.) I’ve alsomarked off 1 inch increments on one side and it works great for

measuring and marking loose canvas for cutting and stretching.

I actually think it’s handier than an actual mahl stick, but if youthink you want one, you can readily find one at a local art storeor online.

Other things I like to use are small cans to put my thinner and medium in. Fortunately, we tend to eat a lot of olives, so Isave those cans. You can use tomato sauce cans, or other smallcans as well.




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Drawing Skills

You will never be much of a painter if you lack drawing

skill. Good drawing is the basis of good painting. Having saidthat, don’t confuse drawing skill with drawing technique. Youdon’t need to be able to draw a beautifully rendered work of artlike Leonardo DaVinci. Techniques to produce certain textureor effects on specialty papers, etc., while nice to have, aren’trequired to be a good painter. What is required is an ability to put to paper with your hand that which your eye sees. An eye

for placement and scale is developed through drawing.Have you ever noticed the amateur’s work? Perspective is

askew, trees are oddly shaped, some elements are distorted and

either monstrously huge or laughably miniscule next to others.This is due to poor drawing skills.One can never possess too much drawing skill. So, no

matter how long you’ve been painting, get a sketch book andcarry it with you. Draw at every chance.

I have heard some advocate that you draw whatever is infront of you. Draw your T.V., your phone, a chair, your cat,etc. That’s not necessarily bad advice, but a word of caution: if you relegate yourself to drawing too many mundane things,

apart from running the risk of going crazy, you will also run

the risk of losing some if not all of your enthusiasm for drawing. Instead, I would modify that advice a bit. Youshould still draw lots of things, even things you may notnecessarily be all that excited to draw simply for the disciplineof it, however, try to find things that interest you at leastsomewhat. So, since you are reading this, I’m assuming youhave more than a passing interest in the landscape. Take your

sketch pad out of doorsand sketch trees,mountains, streams,

rocks and bushes – things you find in thelandscape. Don’t worryabout creating a sketch book full of masterfuldrawings (that willsurely follow if you

draw enough).You also should

practice placement so

that you end up gettingthings where you wantthem when you drawand then eventually paint them. In theexample shown here,you can see from myfield sketches that Imoved my viewpoint

back a bit in my second

drawing resulting in a better composition.This second drawingultimately resulted inme painting the scenefrom that view. Had Inot done that, I may



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have painted the scene from the first viewpoint and the resultwould have been a less interesting painting.

Additionally, things in nature sometimes look more

pleasing and interesting if they are rearranged a bit. Once youhave a bit of confidence in your drawing abilities, practicemoving elements around to make better compositions.

My advice is to draw both from life and from photographs.There is absolutely nothing wrong with using photographicreference. That way, you can still fill your sketch book whenthe weather isn’t cooperating. Additionally, you can draw the

Pacific coast or a rock formation from the Grand Canyonwithout having to actually go there a second time just by using

photos you already have from your previous vacations.

The idea here is to train your eye and your hand. It is alsoto train you to simplify. Block-in shapes and try to make theminteresting versus trying to copy everything as it is. In drawingthe landscape you will quickly overwhelm yourself if you don’tsimplify. Every beginner’s tendency is to try to record toomuch. Remember, you are making a drawing, not a photograph. If you are using a photo for reference, then youalready possess the photograph - make your drawing somethingmore artistic and thereby more interesting.

Once you have filled your sketchbook, remove all the half-

decent and better drawings and put the rest out on your curb onrecycling day. Get another sketchbook and start filling itagain! Soon you will be amazed at the improvement not onlyin your drawing, but in your painting as well.

Having developed your drawing skills to a certain level willenable you to then lay out your paintings with relative ease to begin your paintings.

I make it a practice to never project or trace images that I paint; I simply draw that which I want to paint in a rather loosemanner directly onto my canvas with thinned paint and a small

bristle brush. I would not be able to do this nearly aseffectively if my drawing skills were weak.




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Composition

There has been a great deal written with regards to

composition in painting and in particular, the landscape. Edgar Payne’s book, Composition of Outdoor Painting is perhaps oneof the best I’ve come across. Unfortunately, Payne’s book isout of print and is therefore very expensive. If you happen tocome across a copy for a decent price, snap it up. It’s not alarge book and it has only a few color plates, but I found a newcopy on Amazon once for $51. I signed up for the Amazon

credit card and got a $30 credit, so I was able to get this gemfor only $21! If you can do something similar, go for it! If

not, I’m sorry for bringing it up.

At any rate, I won’t regurgitate what Payne had to say here.It would take way too much space. Also, though Payne hadlots to say about composition in the landscape, I am, as I havesaid, fairly simple-minded when it comes to things like that -too many variables for me to keep in my head all the time.

Instead, I generally employ the rule of thirds. I know, it’s arule and I said there weren’t any rules. I call it that becausethat’s how it’s often referred to, but, if you prefer to think of itas the principle of thirds, go ahead.

Basically, it is this: divide your canvas into thirds, both

horizontally and vertically. Your main focal point, should fallsomewhere in the vicinity of one of those intersections or divisions. Additionally, things such as horizons and water lines, tree trunks or other verticals tend to be a bit more pleasing to the eye if they fall on or near one of your dividinglines. Following are some examples of what I’m talking about.

As you see in this first example, I often begin either bydrawing on my under-paint with which I tone my canvas or as

I’ve done here actually drawing into the paint by wetting mysmall bristle brush with a bit of Turpenoid and then lifting the paint back off of the canvas. You’ll notice I measured anddrew in my grid lines that divide my canvas into thirds bothhorizontally and vertically. I realize it may be a tad bit hard to

see, so let me show you the finished painting with grid linessuperimposed…



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Notice, it is more of a principle than a hard and fast rule. Inthis painting, I’ve placed the farthest mountains, the horizontal

water line and the bottom of the sky near the top divisor. Theedge of the group of trees to the left is near the left divisor andits base near the top. Notice how many of the rocks in theforeground fall below the bottom divisor. All these elementswere laid out like this intentionally.

Let’s look at another example… The little painting I did of

the arroyo that we looked at when discussing drawing issuccessful in part because of its composition. Notice where allthe elements of the painting fall relative to the divisors -thestream falling into the third below the bottom divisor; the main bluff of the foreground filling the left top two thirds; the

horizontal plane of the top of the receding bluffs are near thetop divisor, etc., etc.

Look at this painting to the right.Where do the

interesting parts of this painting fall?The flat cars, whilereceding and notexactly horizontalfall very near the bottom divisor. Thetrain house is bisected by the right divisor. The mountain ridges in the




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background reach up to the top divisor. The main bit of interest sits in the middle third of the painting horizontally.

And here we have yet another example. Notice how the mesas,

while not all the same height, all fall near the top divisor. Notice the break in the tumble weeds of the foreground howthey stop near the verticals. You see, this is indeed a principle,not a rule as things don’t conform to these divisions rigidly, butthey do so loosely and generally. Do you see how pleasing

they are to the eye laid out so?

Lastly, I want you to notice how this simple system of composition works in any format. The painting below issquare and yet, notice how well it aids in the design. The

horses’ heads fall near the top divisor; their legs nicely spaced by the verticals; the bottom of the trailer near the bottomdivisor. Truly, this simple system I find to work best for someone as simple as me.



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Plein Air

Why is it called painting “en plein air”?

Well, it’s because itmakes it sound fancy. Ithink it’s funny howmany things in art aregiven foreign terms like“alla prima” or “giclee”. It gives the

person who uses thoseterms both an air of

mystery and authority at

the same time. It reallymakes one seem quitesophisticated!

Plein air meanswhat it sounds like, not what it’s spelled like – plain air. Whenone paints “en plein air”, he is painting out in the open air, outof doors in other words.

Plein air painting has several advantages for the painter aswell as several disadvantages. I discuss both a little in this

book. First, it’s great fun to get outdoors and paint. If one is

particularly lucky he’ll be serenaded by birds while he paints.Another advantage is that one gets to study nature firsthand. You get to see how light reflects off water for instanceand you can walk around and see if it reflects differently in theshade than it does in the sun. You can see how light diffusesand how the atmosphere can add perspective to a scene.

When painting en plein air, you are painting from directobservation. There can be a great advantage to this in that youcan move around a bit and look at something from various

angles – something you can’t do from a single photograph.I enjoy painting en plein air, however, I am not with the

camp that asserts that it is a superior way of painting to others.I have heard many times how that’s really the only true way tocapture the true colors, that studio painting produces lifelesswork as it isn’t done from life, etc. Frankly, I take issue withsuch assertions.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to work with afriend to bring a variety of the country’s best plein air painters

to town for a paint-out event. They did a variety of painting

near our river while they were here. On one occasion four or more of them stood in nearly the same spot and painted thesame view of the river. I thought to myself (having bought-into some of the clichés about plein air), this will be interesting because even though these painters will have different stylesand will compose their work differently, I’m really lookingforward to seeing how they all get that true color from paintingon location from life.

Well, let me tell you, that was a real eye opener! While

each of those painters espoused the wonders of plein air being

the surest way to record the true colors found in nature, their paintings were all over place color-wise. No one painted themountains, trees, river or even the sky the same color as eachother or even the same color as nature!

When I questioned them about that, they retreated to thetruth of the matter – that they were stylizing, using artistic




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license and actually improving upon the scene that was actuallythere.

Don’t get me wrong, I love painting en plein air, but don’t

let anyone tell you it’s the only way to get a good painting.The only way to paint a good painting is to determine to be the best at it that you can possibly be and to do it a lot!

And while plein air does offer the painter some decidedadvantages, it has a variety of disadvantages as well.

First, the weather doesn’t always cooperate. I’ve painted in

some downright miserable conditions. I had to finally wrap upthe painting I was working on above when the falling snowstarted covering too much of the paint on my palette.

Another marked disadvantage is how quickly the lightchanges when the sun does shine. After about two hours thelight changes so drastically that some things are totally

unrecognizable from how they appeared when you initiallystarted.

Bugs are another problem. If they aren’t biting you, they

are sticking in your paint both on your palette and on your canvas.Additionally, wind can really ruin your day if it is strong

enough to blow your canvas or easel over.At any rate, here are a few tips for painting en plein air.First, try to anticipate the weather and pick a nice day if

possible.

Paint small, a large canvas is a lot of real estate to cover inonly two hours.

Try to wear dark clothing and wear a decent hat because

the light outdoors, even on a cloudy day, is brighter than whatyou have in the studio. As such, you will have a tendency to paint darker than you perceive you are. When you take your plein air painting indoors (which is where it will most likelyand most often be viewed) it will appear darker than youremembered painting it. To compensate, mix your colors more brightly than you think you should. If you can set up in theshade, so much the better.

If you are painting on stretched canvas, don’t set up with

the sun behind your canvas as it will shine through – that’s one

reason I find canvas panels advantageous when paintingoutdoors.If you don’t like an audience, get over it. No matter where

you find to paint, it seems someone will see you and an artist infront of an easel is like a magnet to nearly any passerby. Takealong a business card and give it to the onlooker. Or better yet,tell them they look like one who really appreciates art and ask



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them if they would like the first option to purchase your painting when you are finished. Tell them you’ll be happy towrite a personal message on the back of the painting too!

Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed with details.Squint your eyes and paint simpler shapes than you initiallythink you should.

Think of your plein air painting as a study or a sketch. Youwill approach things more loosely and your painting will belivelier. You can always paint it again larger and with moredetail back in the studio if you are particularly happy with it.

Those who are credited with the whole plein air movement,the Impressionists, saw their plein air paintings as just that,

studies and sketches to be taken back to the studio and used as

references and inspiration for larger pieces.There are some who advocate that a plein air paintingshould be started and finished alla prima (another foreign termwhich I believe means “from the first”). That is, they say thatthe only authentic painting is one started and finishedcompletely on location in one shot. They may allow one tocome back to the same location to finish the painting onsubsequent days at the same time of the day, but they say that if you put one brush stroke on in the studio you have

compromised the craft and you are a mere pretender.

That sounds like a lot of elitist hot air if you ask me. If youwant to paint en plein air alla prima, then go right ahead, goodfor you, but don’t look down on someone who takes his pleinair sketch back into the studio and sees something that wouldreally improve the painting (like brightening the sky or adjusting a shadow, for instance) and then adds his finishing

touches there. In my way of looking at things, it’s a nice painting, period.

When you paint en plein air, aside from the basic supplies

mentioned earlier, you should take plenty of water to drink,extra rags, plenty of thinner and some soapy water to wash upwith – you don’t want to drive home and get paint all over your car’s steering wheel and seats.

Take along plenty of plastic grocery bags as well, so youcan take all your used rags and bottles home with you to properly dispose of there.

If you travel on back roads that have gates across them,leave the gates in the manner you found them. Open if open,

closed if closed. I don’t know how it is where you may be

from, but that’s standard practice here in the Western U.S.Lastly, I always take my camera. I take a shot of the scenewhen I begin painting and then I take another one when I’mfinished. If I think of it I take a shot in the middle too. I takethese photos back intothe studio with me for reference in order tofinish up my plein air piece or to use as

reference alongside

my plein air piece if Idecide to do a larger studio painting of thescene.




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Studio

The studio offers the oil painter a controlled environment.This is a wonderful thing. My studio is never too cold or too

hot. It is free from bugs, wind, rain and snow.Since I typically paint very early in the morning when it’s

still dark, I light my workspace with daylight temperature bulbsand have wonderfully consistent lighting. Even when I paintmid-day, my light is consistent as I have north and west facingwindows. In the late afternoon when the light shines too warm

from the west, I merely close the blinds and turn back on thestudio lights.

You should carve out a niche in your home and claim it as

studio space even if you don’t have a large amount of space tocommit to it.My studio is my sanctuary. I select the type of music I want

to listen too and then, in this environment I’m free to create.Time can become so transient in the studio so keep a watch

or clock nearby if you have other time commitments.To paint landscapes in the studio, one must work from

either photos, plein air sketches, drawings, memory or anycombination of these. Some see this as a disadvantage, others,

such as me do not necessarily agree.

Admittedly, there are occasions when it would be nice tosee the mountain that is obscured by a tree just a bit better or some similar scenario, but for the most part, I find workingfrom photos is fine. The nice thing about working from a photo is that the sun never shifts, the animal never moves, thewaterfall is frozen in a state of time, etc. making observationleisurely rather than frantic.

I shoot all my own reference digitally and I suppose that’swhy I don’t mind working from photos. I take my images into

Photoshop and adjust them. I open up my shadow details and

usually punch up the color a bit. You can then print out a nicelarge piece for reference or do as I do now, paint directly fromyour computer screen (if you haven’t don’t this yet, it can takea little getting used to, but it’s really convenient once you do,especially if you have a laptop).

If you are still shooting your photos on film and havingthem processed at the corner drug store, then you probably are



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going to be frustrated working from them. My only advice toyou is to move into the digital age. If you have a computer,which you must if you are reading this e-book, then all you

need is a decent digital camera (it’s amazing what you can getfor even $100 these days) and an Internet connection. Thereare free programs that will do a lot of the simple adjustments Ido without having to invest in Photoshop, so with your computer and your digital camera, you could be set and freefrom the ancient technology of film and paper. With good, bright reference, you will be amazed at how much your

paintings will immediately improve!A word of caution, though, if you are working from

photographic references - based on the rule of thirds previously

discussed, the focal point of your painting should be on or near one of the intersections of the divisors. Nothing screamsamateur more than a painting with the focal point of your painting smack dab in the middle, dead center of your canvas.However, most cameras, especially new digital auto-focusingcameras, tend to focus exactly there, dead center of your photo.As a result, your tendency is to shoot your reference photoswith your subject dead center. So, if you are working from photos, it will improve your composition dramatically if you

take the time to re-arrange your subject a bit and employ a preliminary sketch or two. This will also serve to improve

your drawing skills at the same time. You may also consider merely cropping your photo a bit differently either inPhotoshop or with a pair of scissors after you have printed itout.

In the large canvas I painted, “Sierra Splendor” shown inthis studio shot, I used several photos for reference, but

considered it important enough to not only do some initial pencil sketches, but I actually painted a small canvas in order to make sure I had all my elements worked out beforehand

(shown sitting on my easel in front of the large painting in progress).Speaking of large canvases, here’s another point. It is

extremely difficult to paint a large canvas en plein air whereasit’s relatively much easier in the studio. To paint a large painting outdoors, you would need to return to the same spotday after day at the same time each day and hope for consistent

weather…in the studio from photo reference and plein air reference, you always have the same conditions when you




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return to your canvas. Lastly, if you work early in the morning,coffee is also a studio essential!

Beginning

Reordering (the value of the small sketch)

It is best to begin a landscape painting with a clear idea of what you want to have when you are done. That however, isoftentimes more easily said than done. Relying on location

alone, whether a photo or actually being there can sometimes be problematic.

Let me give you an example. The Sierra Buttes is an

amazing rock pile! Standing on a ridge looking down atSardine Lake has never ceased to fill me with awe.Unfortunately, even digital photos can leave things a littlelackluster. Here is a case in point:

This is a shot of the Buttes overlooking Sardine Lake froma ridge on the trail leading up to the top. The scale andgrandeur is diminished by the camera lens in order to set it

wide enough to encompass the scene. This can becompensated for by sketching, because the eye won’t distortthings. Here is a field sketch of the same scene:

While this helps,the problemremains: the scene

could be a littlemore interesting. Isketched it a secondtime with the idea

of making some of the foreground trees



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larger in order to add a little interest:The second, reordered sketch is definitely an improvement;

however, I now feel too much of the lake is obscured by the

tree. I decided to try one more reordered sketch of the scene:

I reduced the size of the tree on the left but also add aneven larger one to the right. This feels much better to me andleads me to finally paint the color study before I paint the largecanvas:

In the process of doing the color study, I add the trail tohelp explain and give the feel of a ridge looking down to givethe viewer a way into the painting. Finally, I paint the large

studio piece for a client confident that I have solved a lot of problems up front via the sketches.

I realize there’s a lot that has happened in between theinitial sketch and the finish piece, but my point so far has been

to demonstrate the value of problem solving and improvingupon nature by sketching a little up front. As we move on, I’ll

be discussing how I approach a painting once I’ve decidedupon a direction and I’m ready to begin the canvas.




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toning the canvas

I don’t much like painting on the stark white of the canvas.I like to let a bit of my surface show through my paint at timesand white sticks out like a sore thumb for me. If one paintsthinly and builds up his paint layer upon layer, then perhaps thewhite base might add a certain luminance that is nice, however,I paint in fairly thick layers and opaquely, so under-lying whiteis not all that necessary for me.

So, I typically begin each painting by “toning” my canvas.

That is, I usually mix up a sort of burnt orange color and with alarge brush apply a very thin layer of it to my surface. This is

pretty much the only paint in the painting that I thin directlywith Turpenoid. Once my canvas is covered, I then wipe itdown to the desired value with a Wyp-All.

This thin paint typically dries very quickly, but I don’tnecessarily wait. “Fatter” paint on top with some M.GrahamWalnut Oil/Alkyd medium mixed in, covers fine without

picking up my under-paint unless I want it to, which I control by how hard I push my brush into it.At this juncture, I suppose I’m getting a bit ahead of

myself, so let’s first proceed to the next step…

drawing with the brush

As previously shown, I sometimes “wet” a small bristle

brush with Turpenoid and draw into my under-paint leaving mewith a white line drawing, but more often than not I merely dipinto my burnt orange mix directly and draw directly on top of my under-paint with paint that hasn’t been thinned. I usuallymark off my thirds first then sketch in outlines and areas of major value change like shadows.



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In some instances, such as skies with clouds, the pattern of clouds can be quite intricate. While I could draw my cloudshapes the same way as I draw the other elements of the

landscape, sometimes I find it less confusing to paint them inwith a light, nearly white paint as shown here:

And so, this is the point that I’m typically ready to begin“painting” my landscape in the studio.

I would begin a plein air piece in nearly the identical way withthe exception that I typically don’t get too carried away withspecific details of clouds on account that they change so

quickly.

At this point, I typically begin with the sky. I’ll mix up atleast two colors of blue for my sky. In the high altitude of theSierras, the sky is quite a vibrant blue near the top, and much

lighter and more cyan near the horizon. The sky itself is also ahuge light source due to what’s known scientifically as theRayleigh scattering effect. If you are a super-nerd like me,look it up on the Internet; there’s plenty written about it. But,if not, just understand that the sky, especially that part near thehorizon is usually much lighter than you would tend to paint it,so be careful and don’t mix your sky blues too intense or dark.




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Middle

keying

Once you begin to paint, it’s typically advantageous earlyon to “key” your painting. “Keying” is about painting in your highest key (lightest area) and lowest key (darkest area) assoon as you begin. I don’t always do this though I try toalways remain mindful of the principle when I don’t. There isa decided advantage to doing this to aid you in painting a

believable image. As I mentioned already, the sky is a greatlight source and is typically the highest key area in your painting and I typically paint it first. Early on, it’s to myadvantage to paint the lowest key area (the dark area of theforemost trees on the right) so that now, for the rest of the painting, I will mix nothing darker than what I have already

laid down and nothing lighter in value than the sky (with theexception of highlights in water and snow in direct sunlight)and nothing darker in value than the shadows of the foremost

trees. Then, by mixing higher key darks and lower key lightsin the areas in between, everything will have the appearance of receding nicely and naturally. One of the biggest mistakes of beginning painters is to paint the shadows of distant objects thesame as close ones and then everything looks flat an pasted on.

Here’s the finished piece:



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scrubbing

In shadow areas, a lot less detail is seen due to there being a

lack of illumination. Since there isn’t much detail, oftentimesshadow areas end up looking flat and frankly a little boring.One of the ways to deal with this is to “scrub” your dark color loosely and thinly – practically straight oil paint with little or no medium or thinner – and allow some of the under color toshow through as well as some nice brush strokes.

The stiff, hard bristles of a bright bristle brush are ideal for this. Once I lay in the general block of color, I then go back and build up as much detail as I want, where I want withlighter, more opaque and usually thicker color. The buffalo in“Prince of Catalina” shown here is a perfect example of how I

do that. Notice how the dark area, while generally devoid of

much detail, is still full of interest and character.Unfortunately, this picture is too small to show the full

extent of the brush work. What had the potential to be flat and boring has more life and interest from the scrubbing on of the

color.

fat over lean



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without expecting to bring up a little of the under paint, butwith just a little practice you will discover how wonderfullyeasy it is to over paint wet on wet!

working small areas

Most painters I know seem to work all over their paintingall at once. To see their work in progress usually looks like a big incomprehensible mess to me. That’s just me and I’m notcriticizing them a bit. They are good painters and that all-over-

all-at-once approach seems to work for them.As I’ve said before, I’m a pretty simple guy and therefore

that sort of approach confuses me. I instead like to work insmall, logical sections. Typically I’ll paint in the sky first, thenthe distant horizon then the mid-ground then finallyforeground.

As you can see in the example here, I actually painted thesky first, then the distant mountains, the water, the mid-groundrocks and now I’m beginning the mid-ground trees and hill. I

scrubbed in my dark value first and am now ready to begin to paint lighter values on top. Once I finish there, I’ll move“forward” in the plane to the mid/fore tree and then to theforeground rocks to finish. Working small areas like this keepsme from getting overwhelmed and keeps me from over or under working an area as I can more readily ascertain when it’sdone enough to move on. This is not to say I’ll never return to

an area to add a detail or two, but in general, this approachreally works for me.

two-value block-in

Another thing I do that helps the painting to progress rather quickly is to employ a two-value approach within the smallareas that I’m working.

Let me explain. First off, there are certainly way more thantwo values in any painting. Even if you break it down to itssimplest terms, there are three, highlight, shadow and middle

value. But, here’s the approach I use. After “scrubbing” in adark value, I look for the two major areas that most define that

section and ask myself, what are their values? Obviously, theywill be lighter than the dark, shadow area, and they aretypically a middle value and then a lighter (but not all the wayto highlight) value. Look at this following example:




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This desert sandstone bluff doesn’t really have a major dark area as it is in full sunlight. The darkest color I “scrubbedin” is really not all that much darker than my under tone,however it is the darkest and I quickly scrub it in. Next, Ilooked for the two most obvious values and I quickly laid themin – darkest first. I laid the first one in with a brush and then

use the knife to lay in the next.Although this is not all that I will paint in this section, in a

very short time I have the general look I’m after and then cango back and add whatever else I need to and then move on.

In this instance I go back and add a few accent areas andeventually I’ll hit the rock faces with a few highlights givingreal life and character to the rocks! And youcan see the sameapproach applied to

painting this tree,scrubbed in shadow

area, and two valuesof green in the foliagearea…a few detailsand then it’s done!



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atmospheric perspective

When painting a landscape, you are representing something

with a lot of dimension on a two-dimensional flat surface. Oneof the things people struggle with the most is how to makedistant things look distant and close things look close.Obviously, things like scale and perspective help, but evenwhen those things are properly done, a painting can look amateurishly flat. What people overlook most is atmospheric perspective. Sometimes it is called aerial perspective, but it’s

the same thing, the effect the atmosphere has on things as theyrecede from the viewer.

Remember I mentioned the Rayleigh scattering effect.Well, if you haven’t looked it up, that’s ok. Suffice it to say,the sky is blue because there are particles that absorb and thenemit blue light in the atmosphere. Yes, even right in front of your face. It’s just that they are so small that up close youaren’t going to see them. Far away, you can’t see them either,individually, but the further away something is, the more of them are in between you and it. Their effect is compounded bytheir numbers, so it is easiest to think of it like the more air there is between you and an object, the more sky there is…after

all, the sky is nothing more than air! This explains why thenmountains in the distance appear bluer than ones up close.

Anything for that matter appears bluer the further away it is.Additionally, things also appear lighter. These tiniest of

particles aren’t reflecting light as much as they are absorbingand then re-emitting light. Admittedly, water vapor or hazereflects light, but the effect of haze is to typically make things

lighter, but not

necessarily bluer.True atmosphere is both lighter in valueand bluer in color.

You can see how I’ve painted this in the painting shown

here in both color and grayscale. Notice, not only is the color of the distant mountains (1) bluer than the middle (2) which isstill bluer than the closest (3), but if you look at just the valueseen easiest in black and white, you will notice a progression of

light to dark value as well.One way to help achieve this effect properly when painting

is to mix up a lot of extra sky color and then add it in with thecolor you have mixed for your mountain…this worked particularly well in achieving proper value and color in themiddle area using the color of the fore area as a starting point.




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End

accents and highlights

After blocking-in the two major values, I’ll usually go back and fuss in the area – but only a little. Then, most often theonly thing left to do is add accents and highlights.

My guess is most, if not everyone, know what a highlightis. Well, if you aren’t familiar with the term “accent”, it’s basically the opposite of a highlight. It’s the smallest darkest

of dark bit of the painting. An example might be the deepestrecess in the shadow of a rock. The point is, at least in the

foreground, it’s usually going to be a small area that’s darker than the dark shadow area that you keyed in at the beginning of your painting.

Highlights, likewise are typically brighter than even your

bright sky. They are typically small areas of reflection likesparkles on water or the brightest spot on the fender of an oldtruck, etc. Highlights are most obvious on metallic or wetsubjects, like rocks in a stream or the water’s surface itself,however, they occur on lots of different surfaces to one degreeor another.

In the painting shown here, you should be able to get an

idea of what I’m talking about. In the one to the right, I’vemarked all the accents with bright pink and the highlights with

bright green. Notice that for the most part, they occur mostnoticeably toward the foreground. Not that they don’t occur inthe distance, but they are too small and diffused to see.



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Varnish

The final thing I do to a painting prior to framing it is apply

varnish. Varnish not only protects a painting, it makes it easyto dust and clean when necessary. Varnish is removable, soconservators can completely remove the varnish from a painting if need be without affecting the underlying paint (incases such as smoke damage, etc.)

There are all kinds of schools of thought about applyingvarnish to an oil painting. As we have already discussed, oil

paint needs to cure and should be fully so prior to applying thevarnish. Some say this takes a year if the paint is thick. Since

I use a medium that contains Alkyd, a resin that speeds drying,I typically wait only about six months ideally, but havevarnished paintings in as few as a couple of months withoutany problems.

There are some painters who I greatlyrespect whose work has been around for many years who advocate varnishing rightaway (within a few weeks). The debateabout this I suppose will rage on, but I tendto rather err on the side of caution and wait

a bit if possible.You can get Damar varnish made by

different manufacturers in spray form or inliquid for brushing on. There are newer,synthetic formulations that are supposed toremain clearer over time, such as Krylon’sKamar varnish.

You can typically get varnish that

produces either a gloss or matte finish. There is a lot of personal choice available.

I typically use Kamar when using spray on varnish or

Winsor & Newton Conservart varnish when brushing on. Bothare gloss finish. Personally I really like the gloss finish; I think it really helps to bring my colors back to life. There are somethough, who like a matte finish and so, use what you prefer.

Varnishes are very stinky and volatile, so don’t apply themindoors or near an open flame. On the other hand, they aresticky till dry, so I think it best not to apply them outdoors

either. I typically apply mine in the garage with the garagedoor open a bit.

I typically apply a minimum of two coats of varnish,allowing the first to dry for ten or more minutes beforeapplying the second.

Whether to use spray or apply with a brush is a matter of choice. Some artists I know use brush-on when their paintingis too large for them to feel comfortable spraying it on. This is probably a good rule of thumb as it takes a lotof practice and experience to spray on varnishover large areas without getting a few visibleoverlaps especially with gloss. If you do go the

brush on route, get a large, soft house painting brush to apply it with and then leave your

painting lying flat while it dries as the varnishwill level itself a bit. If you spray, shake it for at least two minutes prior to spraying and thenhold your can at least twelve inches away fromyour painting. Overlap your spray strokes andtry to keep your can the same distance




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throughout your stroke. Spray past the end of your canvas andthen change direction and spray again – this I consider onecoat…repeat this process at least once again and three or four times won’t hurt anything...

Conclusion

I sincerely hope that this e-book has been of value to you. Itruly desire you to grow as an artist. If I must conclude withone thought, it is this: paint! That is it, just paint.

Set aside time to paint as often as you can and then stick toit. If you can, paint every day. If not, then at very least, paint

weekly (not weakly!) You will improve your skill in direct proportion to how much time you devote to it. I believe it isCraig Nelson in his book, 60 Minutes to Better Painting whorefers to it as “brush mileage”. Get a lot of brush mileage andyour painting will improve by leaps and bounds.

As you paint, never give up on a painting. You mustwrestle through problems to learn how to solve them. I never throw a painting away or start it over before I finish it first.

There is probably a point in nearly every painting,especially the paintings of those just beginning to acquire some

brush miles, where the artist becomes overwhelmed and is justsure he isn’t going to be able to pull it off. I say, don’t jump

ship; slow down and ask yourself, what does this paintingneed? What small steps can I take to see my vision through tofruition?

Take a bad painting to a finished state and then give it a place in your studio for a few weeks. Look at it with fresh eyesand you may discern a little thing here or there that you could

do to make it better. Sometimes, however, you might loathe itso that the best course of action might just be to cut it from itssupport and throw it out. So be it, but give yourself and it achance.

Realize that you are never going to be as good a painter asyou want to be. Oh, you may reach a level that you only nowstrive for, but once you are there you will have a new level of aspiration. Once again, paint. Paint and you will progress evenfurther.

Paint what you like, those things that inspire you…but also

and perhaps more importantly, paint what you hate. This iswhere true growth as an artist comes. For years I hated to paint

trees. They were too complex for me. Instead of painting themwell, I would stylize them, avoid them or somehow elsecreatively hide my fear and loathing of them. Then I wascommissioned to paint a whole park full of them. I decidedthen and there, I was an artist and I should be able to paintanything I want, therefore Iwon’t shy away from anythingever again, but I will boldly paint trees till I can paint themdecently. I’m still working on

that, but I’m much better attrees now! I no longer hate

them. I no longer shy awayfrom anything…brush mileage!

Paint my friend…paint!(see next page for

additional resources)



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For more painting tips, please visit:http://www.mikecallahanart.com/paintingtips

For a list of materials and supplies that I use and places onlinewhere you can obtain them, please visit:http://www.mikecallahanart.com/paintingtips/supplies.html

My Approach to Painting the Landscape in Oils

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