All Blog Posts (601)

South Island Painting Workshop

2x20" oil on Canvas - "Paradise Valley III"

Here's a painting I finished yesterday of Paradise Valley in the South Island. I was trying to give it a lot more drama than the calm scene in the photograph, so spent a bit of time trying to achieve a glowing look in the river and a wilder atmospheric effect in the… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on September 3, 2009 at 14:27 — 4 Comments

Painting Questions - brush technique

Here's an email I answered recently - thought it might help some other folks out if I showed you my reply to John's questions....

The question...

"Hi Richard, attached is a painting that is the view out my bedroom window. I mixed the colors to match what is really seen. Much better than from… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on August 25, 2009 at 10:35 — No Comments

We're Back!

Well that was fun! 7 Nights in Rarotonga with my goodly wife and 5 friends. In case you're wondering, yes I did take my paints - lugged my big outdoor painting easil over there with me - don't know what everyone else had in their backpacks - mine was chocka! BUT, I didn't do any painting! I guess I could have made time for it but we seemed to be pretty busy most of the time - spent 4 days learning how to scuba dive and the rest of the time… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on August 20, 2009 at 13:02 — 1 Comment

We're Leaving!

But we'll be back. :-) Going to Rarotonga for a week's holiday (leaving the kiddies with Grandma) and heading off in a Boeing heat-seeking airplane to soak up some vitamin D. It's winter here in New Zealand at the moment - a good cold one too.

Helen (my wife) and I are going to do a scuba diving course while we're there and get our diving tickets. Am debating whether or not to take my paints with me. Umming and ahhing about that. Got a… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on August 5, 2009 at 13:29 — No Comments

Still Life Painting - Quang Ho inspired

Oil on canvas - 12x13"

The block-in.…

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Added by Richard Robinson on July 2, 2009 at 13:30 — 6 Comments

Beach painting in the studio from painting and photographic reference.

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Added by Richard Robinson on June 29, 2009 at 8:30 — No Comments

Painting Landscape Commission Day 3 - Ocean's Beach

Added by Richard Robinson on June 25, 2009 at 17:15 — No Comments

Painting Landscape Commission Day 1 - Ocean's Beach

Oil on Canvas 20x60".

Had a great day painting in the studio today - trying out some new ideas with colour and application technique. Really… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on June 23, 2009 at 17:12 — No Comments

Plein air painting in Christchurch

Spent a great day painting in the sunshine with a friend Simon Kramer from Christchurch (South Island of New Zealand). It's so nice… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on June 21, 2009 at 17:46 — No Comments

Painting Lesson - Ocean Beach Study

Did this in 1 hr today - a small colour study for a larger commission. Lots of fun doing these little…

Added by Richard Robinson on June 4, 2009 at 17:24 — No Comments

Playing for Change

I know this doesn't have much to do with painting, or maybe it's got everything to do with it, either way I had to put this up here. Enjoy!…

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Added by Richard Robinson on May 22, 2009 at 9:00 — No Comments

Still Life Painting - Fruit - Oil on Canvas, 7x7"

Enjoyed doing this yesterday. Trying to get my head around colour and value, knocking the value back so I can keep the saturation high. Very interesting.…

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Added by Richard Robinson on April 29, 2009 at 9:00 — No Comments

Finished Painting & Live lesson intro

Oil on Canvas. 114x38cm.

Pretty happy with this one - achieved a good glowing effect and managed to keep it all fairly loose despite all the detail.

Live Online Lessons

I'm still working on getting my live online lessons going, but in the meantime have a look at the live lessons of American… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on April 23, 2009 at 9:54 — 3 Comments

Landscape Oil Painting on the Easil today

Added by Richard Robinson on April 16, 2009 at 18:43 — No Comments

Mastering Colour Workshop

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Added by Richard Robinson on March 17, 2009 at 10:45 — 2 Comments

'Moments Shared' - Oil on Canvas - 36x64"

Finished! Took me about half a day to get the face where I wanted it - turned out to be the trickiest bit, not just because it was a face, but because I was trying to achieve the likeness of my Father and still retain the expression in the broad brushstrokes in such a small area, which meant I had to have the big strokes… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on March 11, 2009 at 15:43 — 3 Comments

New Commission

Here's a commission I'm working on at the moment. The size is 36x64". It's based on a previous painting here: http://www.newzealandartist.com/z343.htm

It's for the main foyer of the Cancer Society. They would have purchased the 'Footsteps' painting but thought the boy… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on March 9, 2009 at 9:30 — 3 Comments

This is where I live!

It occurred to me that a lot of folks reading my blog might not know much about where I live. I found this video on youtube and couldn't resist showing off a bit - it's a pretty cool place, however I'm not skiing, swimming with whales and doing the Maori haka (war dance) every day - only on friday's when we all take our pet sheep over to the Shire and have a barn raising with the… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on February 26, 2009 at 10:13 — 3 Comments

First 'Painting a Day' Painting

"We Gotta Get Outta This Place..." 12"x12" original oil on panel.

Well, I don't know if I will keep doing this, but let's just see where it goes. I've been very inspired by some of the 'Daily Painters' you can find on the web. It's a great opportunity to hone my skills on little studies and also let people purchase… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on February 17, 2009 at 20:00 — 3 Comments

The Ultimate Painter's Tool

It took a couple hundred hours of development, field testing and incorporating suggestions from over 50 other artists from around the world, but it's finally finished, and it is… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on February 15, 2009 at 8:30 — No Comments