Painting Demonstrations & Art Tips

From color to composition, to dealing with the elements, learn from the community of plein air painters with these tips for painting outdoors!

Painting landscapes - Bob Rohm - OutdoorPainter.com

Painting Landscapes: Aspen Trees

Today’s spotlight on artists painting landscapes is Bob Rohm, who offers a video workshop on painting landscapes - specifically trees - trees in oil.
Landscape painting advice - OutdoorPainter.com

How to Avoid Greens in Summer

Actually, Lynn M. Rix tried to avoid greens by painting from a boat ... and she ended up with a lot of green. How so?
Lori McNee, “Sunset on the Snake,” 30 x 40 in.

The Importance of Value in Painting

Believe it or not, value is actually more important than even this element to the design and success of a painting.
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, On the Rocks at Javea - OutdoorPainter.com

Sorolla and Painting the Color of Light

What makes a Sorolla a Sorolla? Any time two or more outdoor painters get together to talk about this master artist, they always agree on this one thing.
Plein air art supplies and paint boxes | OutdoorPainter.com

Plein Air Art Supplies: Choosing the Right Paint Box

Innovations to paint boxes have made the job of the plein air painter more practical and enjoyable. Check out the set-ups of 11 artists with their easels and paintboxes, and learn which may be the right one for you.
Advice for artists - Michele de Bragança plein air paintings

Painting (and Life) Advice for the Painter’s Journey

The most important things we learn aren’t just technical tips, Michele de Bragança tells us, but rather, life lessons.
How to paint landscapes - Nancie King Mertz

Free Preview! Learn How to Paint Urban Scenes in Pastel

In this preview of “Urban Pastel Paintings,” Nancie King Mertz shows us how she approaches cityscapes. See why she says you can use the same approach with both oil and pastel paintings (and why she has become a devotee of pastel).
Painting Waves - John Slivjak art

Rising Tide: Advice for Painting Waves

Water as a featured element in painting has been used by artists throughout history. Here, John Slivjak explains four things artists need to consider when painting waves.
How I Got Out of My Comfort Zone and Improved My Art - Ellen Howard

How I Got Out of My Comfort Zone and Improved My Art

In a place with constant activity, curious children, and vibrant scenery, Ellen Howard learned why it’s important to “get out of your own way” to make the most of an art workshop.
A New Way of Seeing and Painting (For Studio and Plein Air Applications) by John Hughes | OutdoorPainter.com

A New Way of Seeing and Painting

John Hughes explains how this new way of seeing is key to your success, and the development of this skill will do more to further your advancement as a painter than anything else.
Oil paintings by Cynthia Rosen | Tips for Painting Outdoors

Cynthia Rosen on Painting Outdoors: Advice for Artists

Captivated by her landscape paintings, I invited Cynthia Rosen to share with us some of her general tips for painting outdoors.

What’s in My Bag?

When flying with art supplies, make sure you arrive with everything you need. Get the top five preparedness tips here.

Three Important Skills Every Landscape Painter Needs

Simply stated, when these three divisions are understood and put into practice, competent landscape paintings can happen.
Plein air painting in New Mexico

Land of Resilience: New Mexico Plein Air Tips

John Meister offers advice for visiting New Mexico and painting outdoors in the “Land of Enchantment.”

Painting on Large Canvases en Plein Air

Painting on large canvases out of doors is not for the faint of heart, as it requires a great deal of bravery and tenacity to get started. Curt Walters explains more in this guest blog post.

The Value of Art Retreats

Artists are used to taking workshops, which of course are great ways to learn. But what about events that are all painting, in a beautiful place with no workshop? It's trending - see why...
PleinAir iSalon winner - Carl Bretzke

Painting in Cold Temps, Changing Light

Carl Bretzke painted his PleinAir Salon winning painting in Minneapolis. Luckily the temperatures were hovering just above freezing.
Painting outdoors - watercolor

What Failure Can Teach Us When Painting Outdoors

One of the beautiful things about art is that if we pay attention, we can apply what we learn to almost any area of our life, and vice versa. Such is the case with the following advice that plein air artist Larry Cannon shares about failure, success, and the awe that is nature.
Painting landscapes

How Contrast Affects the Design of a Painting

Today’s subject deals with the principle of contrast in the formulation of an effective design. So often, painting students are given a set of rules to live by and at the same time, not told why these so called “rules” exist.
Brushwork in a landscape painting

Painting Technique or Slick Gimmick?

Because of its tendency to become flashy, this technique sometimes becomes a slick gimmick that is designed to impress the viewer. Learn how to tame it here.