5 Tips To Add More Color and Creativity To Your Landscape Painting
Canadian artist Melissa McKinnon, known for her landscapes with bold colors and thick textures, shares how to push out of your comfort zone on your next plein air painting session.
Visionary Work: 7 Ways to Develop Creativity
Good news: You don't have to sacrifice your personal expression for the sake of learning the principles of art. Here's how to maintain your unique artistic voice.
Keys to Efficient Plein Air Painting
After years of painting outdoors and in the studio, Dee Beard Dean has developed ways to quickly capture the sense of light and space in the landscape. Discover them here!
Albert Handell on Grey Tones
Learn how to find out if two colors are the same value with this advice from a master pastelist and oil painter.
Bringing Sanity to Direct Painting
How do you become an accomplished landscape painter? Keep reading to discover the most important habits you should practice.
Top 16 Unexpected Plein Air Art Supplies
Add some of these unexpected “supplies” to your stash to make painting more convenient, more fun, and perhaps, even more interesting.
3 Secrets to Winning Art Competitions
Time and time again, past winners of the PleinAir Salon tell us that the secret to winning is to ...
6 Ways to Silence Your Inner (Art) Critic
Don’t let your inner critic sabotage you — instead, learn how to cultivate it into self-compassion. See how in this guest blog post from an artist / psychologist.
How to Paint Landscapes: Details vs. Design
When you first arrive at your next plein air site, keep this advice in mind and you’ll be in a good position to create an effective landscape painting.
7 Tips for Painting the City
Just as you wouldn’t explore a new city without a map, don’t start your next cityscape without a plan for where you want to go and how you intend to get there.
Step-by-Step: How to Paint Like Van Gogh
Dena Peterson had the honor of being one of 125 international artists selected to work on the new movie “Loving Vincent.” Here, she shares what she learned by studying Van Gogh’s work.
Learn to See and Interpret Light, Before Attempting to Paint It
In order to better understand the properties of light for your next landscape painting, practice this assignment from John Hughes.
How to Paint Beaches: Nail the Illusion of Distance, Light, and Atmosphere
The key to an effective plein air beach scene is to keep it simple — and that goes for your equipment, your palette, and your subject.
Painting Outdoors? Plan for Spontaneity!
“The best plein air pieces start with a well-thought-out plan that is then executed spontaneously with an intuitive hand.” Follow Peggy Immel’s three steps before starting your next landscape painting.
Plein Air Painting for Dummies
If you’re new to painting outdoors (or know someone who is), take advice from these 11 artists, including the most obvious but overlooked things you should know, and what “plein errors” to avoid.
How Joseph McGurl Paints a Landscape in Oil
Preview Joseph McGurl’s newest art video workshop in this exclusive announcement on how to paint better landscapes.
How to Use “Concept” to Create a Successful Painting, From the Start
As artists we must decide what we want the viewer to take away from our creations and determine how best to communicate it.
A DIY “Micro” Pochade for Painting Outdoors
How one outdoor painter is making the most of plein air with this artist hack.
The Benefits of Repeatedly Painting the Same Location
With keen observation and awareness, we can identify opportunities for a successful plein air painting.
How to Paint Landscapes: Impressionism, Sorolla, and the Color of Light
Seeing, understanding, and learning how to use color temperature in your work can elevate a so-so painting into a work of art.
