Richard Robinson's Blog (229)

Here are three paintings I managed to squeeze into a family holiday in Glenorchy in the past few weeks. All painted in the great outdoors battling time, weather and insects. Enjoy.

Evening Dusts

Oil on Canvas

Towards Earnslaw

Oil on Canvas

Towards the Rees

Oil on Canvas

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I…

Enjoy this free chapter from the Mastering Sunsets Course.

Everyone loves sunsets

...but for painters like us they're particularly beautiful because they inspire us to paint them, so we're lucky in that…

Enjoy this free chapter from the Mastering Sunsets Course.

Everyone loves sunsets

...but for painters like us they're particularly beautiful because they inspire us to paint them, so we're lucky in that…

“Red Crested Cardinal” 12×12″ Acrylic on Canvas by Richard Robinson

The idea of painting on a ‘toned’ (coloured) canvas is not a new one. In fact it’s been used for centuries to banish the tyranny of the white canvas and to help thread colour through a painting. It’s tried and tested.

However, not many people paint on vibrant coloured canvas.…

When drawing from life or from a photo there are 2 simple tips to make it easier for you to get it right consistently.

They're both angle transfer methods.

Use your brush or pencil to measure the angle you're wanting to draw, then rotate your body without changing the angle…

Learn about how to use glazing to improve your oil paintings in this video.

The same applies for acrylic painting, though you would use gloss medium varnish or some other clear fast drying medium to mix your glazes with.

With oils I currently either use walnut oil or alkyd walnut oil medium as a…

Learn about how to use glazing to improve your oil painting. The same applies for acrylic painting, though you would use gloss medium varnish or some other clear fast drying medium to mix your glazes with.

With oils I currently either use walnut oil or alkyd walnut oil medium as a glazing medium.

Learn more about…

Here's how I look at the world as a painter...

This video is about Seeing the world like a Painter. Learn more about painting at http://www.livepaintinglessons.com

Here's a brief clip from the First Snow painting lesson at: http://www.livepaintinglessons.com/shop/first-snow

Beginners paintings are often distinguished by a lack of variety. They often display large areas of flat colour,…

Here's a brief clip from the Sunset Dunes painting lesson at: http://www.livepaintinglessons.com/shop/sunset-dunes/

When painting grasses or trees, or anything that we know is full of complex detail, it's all too easy to get carried…

Here's a brief clip from the Chinaman's Bluff painting lesson at: http://www.livepaintinglessons.com/workshop2x.php

Many beginner painters see water and assume it's all blue, or all green, without looking to see what's really going…

'A Picnic in Tuscany' 40x40" Acrylic on canvas by Richard Robinson…

"Pataua Pleasures" 12x18" Oil on Canvas

Two thirds done.

Went to Pataua South today, crossed the…

Painting in China - the experience of a lifetime.

Can you imagine a group painting trip in China? 

Having organised 5 such trips, every time I love to see that people are pleasantly surprised by how…

The other day I had an email from an art teacher in Uganda asking that I critique some student work - ages 10 and 11.

Here's what I wrote:

Here's a wee video about why I use the brushes I do for oil painting and acrylic painting.

Get the Richard Robinson Brush Set from Rosemary & Co. here:…

This month we're starting to paint flowers in the monthly online workshop. We're starting off nice and slow with a single yellow rose and the next 3 months will continue with flowers getting progressively more complex. So if you want to start painting flowers now is a great time to start. Mind you the demo video will always be available so you can start…

This month's workshop focuses partly on Lost and Found Edges which to me is one of the real beauties of working with oil paints - that you can soften off or completely lose an edge whilst leaving others sharply focused, adding an air of mystery and romance to a painting.

Here's the painting we're working with:

"Old Timers" 13…

"Plein Air Still Life" 15x15" Oil on Canvas

Been painting this out on the deck for a couple of days. Boy did I feel rusty! I must have repainted that apple about 20 times. A great painter I recently met in California named Anne Ward inspired me to get busy painting still life outdoors. Very glad she did. I…