Teacher
Richard is a talented full time artist, who loves painting and teaching.

NEW! Order a Painting Critique LEARN MORE
with Richard Robinson
"Milford Sound" 8x16" Oil on Linen by Richard Robinson
Resource photo of Milford Sound in New Zealand.
Milford Sound is unbelievable. It's one of those rare places on Earth that has arranged itself as a perfect painting subject, perfectly side and back lit, that only needs to be put in a frame, with no alterations neccesary. It's also somewhere I've dreamed of painting since I was a child, since we had placemats of this scene that captivated me at each meal time and inspired my first ever landscape painting at the age of 12.
This scene is all about grandeur and creating the illusion of depth. There are 7 visual tools we can use to achieve depth in a painting.
We'll look at using all these tools in this painting so that you'll then know how to use them in all your paintings from here on in.
This demo is in oils but it's fine for acrylics too.
I'll take you step by step through this whole process. Just a couple of hours and you'll have a beautiful painting of a Milford Sound.
I’ll guide you all the way.
In backlit situations cameras tend to under-expose the darks, making them too dark. We can fix that by saving our darkest darks for the foreground, helping create more depth.
Smart phone cameras tend to shrink distant objects in order to squeeze a scene into the frame. Becoming aware of that is important. We can enlarge those distant peaks to compensate and regain their majesty. I've also squeezed the central area a little in order to make a slightly taller painting. Exaggerating the steepness and height of mountains is a time honoured painterly tradition.
Seeing and mixing the subtle value differences between the mountains is key to creating depth here. Note that the colours get a little bluer on the left away from the warming glow of the sun. Light mist is employed at the base of the mountains to add a little more depth and mystery. We use the same colours to paint the blurred vertical reflections.
To create the sunlit mountainsides we mix from the individual mixtures saved on our palette from the mountain base colours. For each mountain the light colour is subtly different, but the goal is to mix slightly lighter, slightly greener colour than the base colour for each mountain. To do that we add white, orange and yellow, using a filbert brush to easily create the impression of trees.
To help balance all that cool blue grey in the scene we can add a warmer sky, lending it a slightly more romantic quality. While painting the sky we're also shaping the mountains and being careful to make soft edges contrast with sharp edges to help add more depth.
A little thicker paint with more texture is employed in the foreground to help create the illusion of detail and to add depth bu contrasting with the smoother background paint. A few crisp details are then added with a fine brush. And Voila!
I'll take you step by step through this whole rich process and you can choose which parts you'd like to try out in your own work.
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
—Walt Disney
Enjoy!
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.
"Milford Sound" 8x16" Oil on Linen by Richard Robinson
Milford Sound, New Zealand
Milford Sound, New Zealand
$15.00USD
$15.00USD
90.00USD
$63.00USD
90.00USD
$63.00USD
$45.00USD
Not loving your painting lessons? No worries!
If it’s not the right fit, we’ll give you a full refund within 30 days of purchase - no questions asked.
When you purchase a DVD you also get online access to the same lesson, including any lesson resources like photos, downloadable notes and access to upload your painting to the student gallery.
That's why you need to make a password when you purchase a DVD, so you can access the online content as well. Enjoy!