The other day I attended a weekend painting workshop held by my friend Brett A'court who lives nearby. His art is at polar opposites to mine and yet we enjoy each others company and we sometimes paint together in his studio.
I sailed out to Peach Cove with my Dad and my Niece and Nephew for a day at this special little beach. Although I wouldn't call this painting a masterpiece by any means I thought it might be valuable for you to learn what I could have done to make this a stronger painting.
Leaving out the color gives you a good chance to focus on other aspects of painting that often get overlooked in the rush to paint dramatic color - important stuff like value relationships, accurate drawing and lost and found edges.
Getting the drawing right really is the major problem for most painters, including myself, so I was really pleased to come across this technique.
Nice couple of hours hunkered down in the dunes trying to capture exactly the colours I was seeing in the scene in front of me.
This video is the first of my "Painting Adventures" series. I originally intended this to be included in the first Painting Adventures DVD as the beginners introduction to the more complicated painting on Day 2 at Langs Beach.
What I learned again was the importance of shifting elements and lighting around to maximize the potential of the subject.
I went painting at Waipu Cove the other day, just 20 minutes drive from home and one of our favourite spots to take the kiddies.
Want to make the foreground jump out more in your painting? Think about the background first.
Why does a certain painting win first place in an art competition? The answer lies a lot in the harmonious arrangement of black and white in the painting.
Getting the color of the specular highlight and it's placement on the object just right are critical to showing the color of the light and the form and surface texture of your object.
FREE Interactive color harmony tool for painters and visual artists