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Richard is a talented full time artist, who loves painting and teaching.
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A friendly place to learn at your own pace.
with Richard Robinson
The first thing beginners get wrong with mountains is the shapes - the drawing. Repeating triangles is not the way to go! Each mountain has a unique shape and character - make note of it and exagerate the differences, even when they are few. Every great mountain painter has at some point exaggerated the steepness and height of a mountain. It's dramatic and it works.
Vast distances reveal strong atmospheric perspective, where the colours of the mountains become more and more like the colour of the sky. Warm colours gradually turn cool in the distance and contrast between colours also decreases. Getting those subtle colour relationships just right is the key to creating depth. I show you how in the video lesson.
Adding mist or dust in the air at the base of the mountains helps to define each layer of depth better so it's easier to read from a distance. It also adds more colour variety and a hint of romance and mystery.
Keeping the paintwork relatively flat compared to a thicker, bolder treatment in the foreground increases the sense of depth and scale in the painting. I'll show you the special brush I use to achieve this.
Focusing light on key parts of the mountains and fading out light and detail around that area helps to add a greater sense of scale and also more drama and interest to the painting.
Each of these keys is further explained and demonstrated in the painting video lesson, and lots more.
Follow me one brushstroke at a time as I take you through the full process of creating this expressive painting of the Paradise Valley in New Zealand. Learn how to design around a central lighting idea and discover the power of a simple palette and a painterly approach. Enjoy!
Suitable for oils or acrylics, and intermediate to advanced painters.
Whenever you’re ready! The lesson is available online any time, and your access to the lesson never expires.
As long as you need! Your access never expires, so you can come back again and again.
Sorry, no you can’t download the video. This is to avoid piracy. You’ll always be able to view the video on this site though.
Richard is a talented full time artist, who loves painting and teaching.
Hi I’m Richard. I’ve been painting my whole life and back in 2001 I traded my graphic design career for the humble life of a full time artist. I love painting, and as it turns out, I love teaching too.
Nowadays I balance my life between parenting, painting, surfing, travelling and teaching. My work is regularly featured in international art magazines, in galleries in New Zealand and America, on TV and in my Mum’s house.
I give outdoor painting workshops in interesting spots around this beautiful planet of ours and love encouraging people to paint. Two of my favourite artists are John Singer Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla.
My painting website: www.nzpainter.com
I’d love to be your new teacher.
Richard is a master artist with an exceptional skill in identifying and communicating key factors to making successful paintings. I have found his video workshops an excellent resource for improving my own work.
"Paradise Valley" 19x20" Oil on Linen by Richard Robinson
Paradise Valley
Paradise Valley, New Zealand
Paradise valley practice
Artist: Chris Huang
Happy Valley
Artist: Stephen Dickens
Snow
Artist: Terry Eldridge
Paradise Valley 10x12 P Adams
Artist: Paul Adams
Paradise Valley NZ - 20" x 20" Oil on canvas
Artist: Greg Dorosh
Paradise
Artist: Anita Costi
Acrylic on canvas’ looking into the distance’
Artist: Brian Caesar
19x20” oil on canvas panel
Wow that's nice work, Mark. Your colours are good, creating a nice recession in the mountains, strong warms in the foreground and a good subtle gradation through the sky. I like the extra detail you put into the trees on the right which really helps with the sense of scale and the same goes for the little details and textures you have built-up in the foreground. My only suggestion would be that some of the clumps of grass in the foreground seem to lack form, meaning they just need a stronger shadow side to offset their light side, with the light coming from the upper right. Great job. -Richard
Paradise Valley
Ooh that's really beautiful painterly work there, Lisa. Your thick brushwork has a real flow and lyricism about it. Juicy! Perhaps you could push that even further in your next painting? Good to see you throwing in a little bit of pallet knife work in there as well to get a variety of texture. Your colour work is very good - strong warms in the foreground contrasted by cool greys in the background. My one concern is that the greens on the mountains are a touch too dark, making them seem out of place. If you convert the photo of your painting into greyscale in your phone or computer you will see that the greens are a little darker than the cool grey they are painted on. In fact they should be I little lighter than that base grey colour they are on since they are in the light. Hope that helps. Beautiful painting! -Richard
Paradise Valley - oil on canvas - this subject never gets old.
That’s some lovely work there Nancy! Great to see you really paying attention to shape design but still managing to have interesting colour variety within the large shapes. Looks like you really pushed the red in the foreground which is quite enticing to look at and really contrasts well with your strong blues in the background. It's also great to see you contrasting soft and lost inches with sharp edges and also large simple shapes with some quite fine detail. That kind of variety in a painting makes it a joy to look at. You're just missing a few reflections of the grasses in the middle along the left-hand bank, which seem to be tall enough to warrant a reflection. You could also have deepened the colour in the water in the foreground to add more contrast there against the warms. Great work. - Richard
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