Here's a link to my most recent blog. The shrimp boat moved on me but it wasn't too Payneful. And there is some practical talk about composition.

I don't always get a chance to post links my blogs here even though I know many of you like to read them. Last week's post didn't make it so I am putting a link to it along with this week's post. They go together and are parts one and two in a series on composition. Here's a… Continue

Okay, this post is not about Plein Air painting but I couldn't find any plein air paintings of the Virgin with Child! So, instead I used Bouguereau. I also included a fun fact about Christ being born in Bethlehem that I bet you don't know! Have a Blessed… Continue

Several weeks ago I spent time listening to some notable published authors talk about the Creative Process. This blog post is the first of a three post series which adapts the material covered in those talks to plein air painting, specifically painting in plein air events!… Continue

Just figured out that I've been forgetting to get my blog posts up with regularity. Here is this week's article. The post is really about choosing paint outs but I couldn't resist the spaghetti western reference! Love those old Eastwood… Continue

Ever wonder what to do when fall colors turn values topsy-turvy? In this week's blog article I discuss this exception to John F. Carlson's 4 Value Planes. And I also answer that all important question, "How long does it take to drive from St. Petersburg, Fl to Switzerland?" What? Drive where? From… Continue

I'm still playing catch up but I think I'm gaining ground...so here's another blog article. By the way have you ever noticed that there is an extra value plane in some of the old Elvis Presley movies?

The above image is Jaoquin Sorolla's Valencian Fisherman courtesy of the Art Renewal… Continue

I have spent several consecutive posts covering the Form Principle all the while promising to tie it into landscape painting. Well, here it is, albeit several days late. I explain why in the opening paragraph.… Continue

I know, I know...."what's a still life demo doing on a Plein Air Artists blog? Well, it's quite simple really. In previous posts I have been laying the groundwork for how the Form Principle, as defined by Andrew Loomis and John Singer Sargent, applies to landscape painting.… Continue

Here we go again! This week's blog post is another in the series which takes an in-depth look at depicting form. Building upon the previous post's discussion of form from the standpoint of values, this one looks at the color of light as it plays across form.… Continue

This week's blog post is a continuation of the Form Principle which I introduced for you last week. This article lays the groundwork for how the Five Types of Light pertain to landscape painting. This week I also found away to work AHHrnold, the… Continue

This weeks blog article features a couple of still life paintings. Before you dismiss the relevance of still life because you are a landscape painter and this is a plein air social network consider this:

Noted author Foster Caddell, in his book Keys to Successful Color-A Guide for Lanscape Painters in Oil, said that still life painting… Continue

This week's article features learning points from another, lesser known, Hudson River School Artist...Thomas Worthington Whittredge. Worthington also posed for a famous painting of an American statesman. Can you guess who?

the pic of Whittredge in his studio came from… Continue

Last week I posted an article suggesting that you revitalize an otherwise dull painting by adding a shot of "red" somewhere near the middle, a la George Bellows. This week's post about "Obtaining Brilliant Color" takes the idea one step further. In the article I introduce a Hudson River School Artist you… Continue

Have you ever worked for a couple of hours on a painting and thought you really handled those subtle neutrals very well. Satisfied with your effort you took the piece home, put it on your easel and then relaxed in another room with a nice glass of red. Later you take an eager look at the painting only to be a little disappointed. The drawing is good, the subtle temperature changes are there, composition, paint handling, all decent...yet something… Continue

July 21, 2009

Not surprisingly there are labels given to artists that describe their state of development, their place on the totem pole. There are student artists, emerging artists, artists to watch, and master artists to name a few. I suppose, or least I hope, that out of all the different labels given to artists, the one I will never outgrow is developing artist. I never want to stop learning, growing and accumulating knowledge.… Continue

July 1, 2009



I’ve got to warn you that this article is little left brained! I know, to more than just a few artists, left brain activity is not high on the priority list. But the truth is that art is only possible when there is a collaboration between the left brain and right brain. The Art of painting is an expression of creative intelligence (right brain activity) that cannot be separated from the craft of painting (left brain activity). Indeed the more our understanding of craft… Continue