The Inaugural Acrylic Live came to an end recently, wrapping up with some of today’s best acrylic artists sharing all of their secrets, explaining their materials, and methods.
We watched and interacted with acrylic teachers such as Anne Blair Brown, Aimee Erickson, Jed Dorsey, Kevin Macpherson, and many more, hosted by Publisher Eric Rhoads, PleinAir Magazine and American Watercolor Weekly Editor-in-Chief Kelly Kane, and Charlie Easton!
Acrylic Live 2025 Landscape Painting Highlights
Claudia Hartley led a colorful demo based on a black-and-white sketch so she could come up with her own creative color schemes in a modern landscape. She began with a yellow ochre-toned canvas with broken rectangles of blue, noting that the contrast “makes your brain dance.”
Joining us from a beautiful location in Scotland, Sarah Burns led a plein air demo on using acrylic gouache. Tip: Because it dries quickly, Sarah does her initial drawing before she pours the paint onto the palette.
Jed Dorsey says he loves to paint on colored surfaces, which is how he discovered he loves to use a black substrate. His demo was on a hardboard gessoed panel, which he used to show how having a black surface can impact your painting, and how to work the acrylic colors to your advantage.
“Sharing your thought process is just as valuable as watching you paint. Thank you so much.” ~ Wendy W.
Mike Hernandez explained how to build up body, richness, and luster in a painting using his “recipe” that includes acrylic gouache, flat acrylics, and regular gouache. He began by “modeling” some rocks in the scene with burnt sienna and white.
Charlie Easton “played hooky” from his role as co-host of Acrylic Live to give us his demonstration while painting en plein air. We joined him for the car ride to a location that he was still to determine, since plein air painting involves so many unknowns. While driving along, he explained that he’ll make decisions on the size, shape, subject, and everything else, once he found a place and got set up in “this beautiful world.”
Carla Bosch’s love of color began in South Africa, where she was inspired by bold impressionist paintings. She started her demo with a toned surface, using charcoal to establish the early compositional lines.
“Spontaneity is key in expressive painting, and acrylics really lend to that,” said Anne Blair Brown, who took us through her favorite surfaces and brushes, and explained how to use the fast drying time to your advantage and how to use acrylics to get “beautiful edges and that painterly [oil] look.”
Joe Gyurcsak led a landscape in the nighttime demo for us; he explained how to give the painting a sense of realism without a lot of detail, adding, “A lot of artists coming up don’t realize how valuable that is for a painting,” because the technique allows you to not have to work as hard to establish your scene.
Kevin Macpherson began his landscape by toning the canvas over a pre-drawn compositional grid, using an unexpected shade of green. He shared tips for creating harmony, making adjustments, and using acrylics in a fresh way.
Looking for MORE ways to improve your skills?
Join us for the next Plein Air Live online art conference! Plein Air Live gives you invaluable insights and live demonstrations from some of the world’s best plein air artists. Over the course of 3-4 exciting days, they’ll reveal techniques to improve your use of color, light and shadow, giving you the confidence and skills to paint outdoors and create more amazing artwork than you ever have before. Learn more at PleinAirLive.com.
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Blog post prepared for the web by Cherie Dawn Haas, Editor of Plein Air Today
