Discover artist Kadin Goldberg’s journey—from training at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence to plein air painting in southern Arizona—and learn his insights on color, composition, and self-critique.
Spotlight on Kadin Goldberg
Art education: I studied for a few terms at Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, as well as had full-time private instruction with Angela Cunningham in Marshall, North Carolina. In addition to these fundamental programs, I’ve taken landscape painting workshops from Joshua Clare, Mark Boedges, and Dave Santillanes.
Favorite subjects: Living in southern Arizona, where water is scarce, I’m excited whenever I get a chance to paint it.
Aha moment: I used to try to match the exact color I saw in nature, then move on to the next one without comparing it to any colors that came before. Mix, apply, and repeat until the painting was finished. It’s a subtle difference, but at some point I realized that I need to compare each color I mix to something I’ve already put down on the canvas. Colors and values exist in comparison to one another. This applies to edges and drawing as well.
What I would do for a living if I wasn’t an artist: I’ve always been fascinated with the inner workings of things, so I’d probably be a psychologist, engineer, or architect.
Favorite artists: I love the work of past artists Isaac Levitan, Edward Harrison Compton, Edgar Payne, and Richard Schmid, as well as many contemporary painters including Scott Christensen, Joshua Clare, Matt Smith, Mark Maggiori, Jeremy Geddes, Bato Dugarzhapov, Jon Foster, Kyle Ma, T. Allen Lawson, and many others.
Aha moment: I’ve learned so much about composition from the artists I mentioned, but I’ve also gained an understanding of color vibration, lost and found edges, and painting within a certain value key in order to create a specific feeling.
The advice I wish I had received earlier in my painting career: Learn to critique your own work. Don’t finish a painting and just move on to the next one without any thought. Try to figure out what you did well and what could have been better. Then keep those observations in mind during your next painting. Also, draw and paint from life, not from photos (at least not for a while). There is no better teacher than studying from life.
What’s next: I’m currently building a home and studio in southern Arizona. My girlfriend and I are physically doing all of the work ourselves, so that takes up most of my time these days. I continue to paint on location as well as in our studio under construction.
Representation: A Banks Gallery, Bozeman, Montana; Belleza Gallery Fine Art, Bisbee, Arizona
Website: www.kadingoldberg.com
Plein Air Live: November 2025
Join us for the 6th Annual Plein Air Live online art conference, featuring Kathleen Hudson, Kevin Macpherson, Kami Mendlik, and many more! The event takes place November 6-8, 2025, with an Essential Techniques Day on November 5. Learn more about plein air painting and this event at PleinAirLive.com.
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![Leon Wyczółkowski, "U WRÓT CHAŁUBIŃSKIEGO [AT THE CHAŁUBIŃSKI GATE]," c. 1905, pastel on paper, 30 1/2 x 42 1/3 in., National Museum in Kraków](https://www.outdoorpainter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Leon_Wyczolkowski_-_U_Wrot_Chalubinskiego_-_MNK_III-r-218x150.jpg "Painting of the Week: “U Wrót Chałubińskiego”")
