Home Painting Demonstrations & Art Tips

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!

Why This Works: A Story of Scale, and Rays Stealing the Show

- Jeanne Mackenzie reporting - In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and...

Why This Works: Monochromatic Look Evokes Atmosphere

- Jeanne Mackenzie reporting - In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and...

Why This Works: Not Every Branch, Twig, and Leaf

In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and points out why they succeed as painted images. This week, Kathryn A. McMahon’s “Beaverdams Pond.”
Painting landscapes - OutdoorPainter.com

Painting Landscapes: Paint Exactly What You See

In recent years, top plein air painters have been using painting procedures associated with academic studio painting. Painters like Marc Dalessio, Joseph McGurl, and Matt Chinian all frame their landscape subjects inside a rigid viewer, then paint exactly what they see inside that rectangle. Find out why. 
Plein Air Magazine

5 Ways to Get Your Art Published

If you want to get your art published and seen around the world, do any (or all) of these suggestions from your team at PleinAir Magazine!
Bringing Sanity to Direct Painting

Bringing Sanity to Direct Painting

How do you become an accomplished landscape painter? Keep reading to discover the most important habits you should practice.
How to Paint Landscapes - “Painting Light and Atmosphere” with Joseph McGurl

Free Viewing: Joseph McGurl on Painting Landscapes

Today, we're traveling into the minds of great artists to discover how they rose to a level of unsurpassed mastery of painting landscapes in “Painting Light and Atmosphere” with Joseph McGurl.
Acrylic color temperature demo

What Is Color Temperature?

Learn how warming up or cooling down areas of your painting can provide unity and balance in your work. Bonus: Includes a step-by-step demo!
Lori McNee uses water-mixable oils

Q&A: How to Use Water-Mixable Oils

In this excerpt from Plein Air Magazine, Lori McNee ("Luminous Landscape Painting" on PaintTube.TV) answers four reader questions about how to use water-mixable oils.
Fall Landscape Paintings Melanie Barash Levitt

Watch: Painting Fall Foliage with a Palette Knife

In this Art School Live interview with Eric Rhoads, Melanie paints a fall landscape using only a palette knife.
Brenda Swenson, "Autumnleaf Farm," 2018, watercolor, 9 x 8 in., Private collection, Plein air

Free Lesson: Negative Painting with Watercolor

Negative Painting means that you paint around the areas you want to preserve; Think of it like carving stone, chipping away until only the most precious elements remain.
Christine Lashley, "Wave Study," 2018, watercolor, 5 x 7 in., collection the artist, plein air

Large-Scale Painting Techniques: 3 Problems and How I Solved Them

Explore the art of going big with this insightful case study-driven advice for large-scale painting techniques from plein air painter Christine Lashley.

Demos From Master Artists: Becky Joy

We asked Arizona artist Becky Joy to talk about her luscious, emotionally charged paintings and the way she uses brushes and palette knives to...

Painting on Shellacked Paper

A case of mistaken identity has Richard Gallego painting on watercolor paper that's been coated with shellac. He likes the results.  ...

Well-Traveled Artist Offers Do’s and Don’ts for Events

Michael Chesley Johnson has been around, and he's seen a lot. And he has advice for artists participating in plein air events and for...

Parting Shot: Double-Duty Easel

Paint all day, use your easel as a cocktail table at Happy Hour. Lead Image: Marc Poole found another use for his trusty Strada...

The Skinny on iPad Plein Air Studies

Paul Zegers used his iPad to sketch scenes while on a vacation. Here’s what he had to say about the iPad as a tool...

Why This Works: Less is More … and Elegant

- Jeanne Mackenzie reporting - In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and...

Why This Works: Loose Brushwork on Figure Suggests Movement

- Jeanne Mackenzie reporting - In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and...

Why This Works: Large Bold Shapes Suggest Abstraction

In this series, plein air painter and instructor Jeanne Mackenzie takes a look at new paintings by contemporary artists and points out why they succeed as painted images. This week, she discusses Don Bishop’s “September Flower Farm.”