There is mud, and there is mud! You’ve heard Bill talk about “mud makers.” You’ve probably experienced “mud” in your paintings - I know I have. Bill talks about the bad side of mud when he refers to the problems of using soft paint. Mud occurs when paint mixes instead of stacking. Instead of highlighting your trees, the highlight color combines with the base color of the … [Read more...]
Move the frame!
Today’s video clip is from one of Bill’s longtime friends, Buck Paulson. Buck shares an idea that is well known by most photographers but applies to artists as well. Let’s talk about photography for a second, and I think you’ll see how to use this idea to your paintings. I took a lot of photos when I worked at The Country School. The last three years I was there I took … [Read more...]
Why Art Should Be Part of Your Life.
“The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purpose within him.” — Carl Jung Imagine a world that looks like the image below. In the very center of this world is an island representing all the things you know. Surrounding your island is an ocean that is everything you don't know. Encompassing that is … [Read more...]
“Not too much paint on!”
It’s so easy to make this mistake when painting wet-on-wet. I know I made it when I started painting. We see this problem, though, even with experienced painters. It doesn’t seem to make any sense to do it the way Bill shows you in today’s video clip. So we’ll try to explain why you need to understand this principle. If you want to be successful with Bill’s method of oil … [Read more...]
“The sun is dancing in the water!”
Bill’s packed a lot of information into today's video clip. Most folks might miss most of what he is doing so we’ll try to unpack it a bit for you. What Bill is doing in the video is what he calls “conditioning.” "Conditioning" is laying in a background layer of color which will be the foundation of his painting. We’ll return to “conditioning” in a bit. Bill is … [Read more...]
The power of light!
The student who is desirous of making great proficiency in the art of imitating the works of Nature, should not only learn the shape of figures or other objects, and be able to delineate them with truth and precision, but he must also accompany them with their proper lights and shadows, according to the situation in which those objects appear. -- Leonardo da Vinci Today's … [Read more...]