All Blog Posts (597)

Latest Lesson Ready for Download

Get the download here: Mt Manaia Lesson

Finally managed to get this file small enough for download which means you can get it for $15 now instead of the $35 for the dvd. Lots of info in this one - it's 60 minutes long - twice the length of the previous lessons. Haven't heard any feedback on this lesson yet because it's so new. Would you like to be the first to comment?… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on January 17, 2009 at 9:17 — 6 Comments

Finding Painting Inspiration

I was out sailing on the Pacific yesterday dwelling on the subject of passion. If passion is the wind that fills your sails and gets you moving, inspiration is the rudder which uses that power in a useful direction. Without direction to our passion it's easy to just sail around in circles. Here's some tips on finding inspiration:

1. Re-evaluate. Look at your latest works and notes to see where you have come to and try to recapture your previous notions of where you were… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on January 14, 2009 at 9:07 — No Comments

Commission - Day 7

Today the poetry went on painstakingly slowly with a tiny brush, I played with the inset sunset photo - adding deeper glazes and some layers of complementary colours to enrich it's palette and darken it at the same time. A hawk and a few other little details went in as well (a skink on the cabbage tree trunk and a tui in the… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on January 7, 2009 at 15:30 — 6 Comments

Commission - Day 6

Painted the two insert paintings and the dead tree in the foreground today. I always enjoy these little paintings as they're so quick to make and alter you can play with ideas much more easily than with a large piece. I might yet glaze over the sunrise painting when it is dry to tone it down a bit, but will wait till the poetry is painted on before I make that decision. The other little painting was a real joy to paint as I again took my artistic… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on January 3, 2009 at 17:00 — 2 Comments

Commission - Day 5

Everything went pretty smoothly on this today - no major hickups and it all just seemed to flow off the brush. It’s a real joy when that happens - decisions are made easily and instinctively and there seems to be a cooperation between the me and painting rather than a struggle. I guess in this case it comes from completing the left hand for-ground section in the previous session and learning from that work how I could easily achieve what I… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 29, 2008 at 22:30 — No Comments

Help me build the Ultimate Artist's Tool!!!

I'm building a great artist's painting tool - it's great already but you might have some ideas to make it even better so put your thinking cap on!

Got some ideas to make it better? > Tell… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 22, 2008 at 14:30 — 11 Comments

Christmas Prezzy for All Members

Hi everyone - It's been a while coming but I've just finished the latest MasterClass lesson. It's 60 minutes long and packed full of goodies for you to learn. With this one I'm letting you in on what goes on in my head when I'm doing a painting - WHY I make the decisions I make. Because the lesson is so long I haven't found a way to deliver it as a download yet, so it's only available as a dvd at the moment for $35USD. If you're a member though,… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 19, 2008 at 10:36 — 2 Comments

Commission - Day 4

Starting to bring in the foreground now. Trickiest part was getting the faint sun glow through the right side of the tree. The next hardest part will be making the rest of the foreground flora interesting without being TOO interesting.

The sketch I built in… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 15, 2008 at 13:53 — 2 Comments

Paintings

Well I found a few paintings. 1 is the teal bay lesson. The apple and the still life are done in the flemish technique. It's done in burnt umber. The next layer for those will be to concentrate the light in the center and create tonal differences then it's on to the dead layer, color layer and detal layer. We'll see how that goes.
Let me know what you think...

Added by Gregory Becker on December 14, 2008 at 6:24 — No Comments

Drawings and Paintings

Well, so far all I really have is drawings posted. For some reason I can't find any paintings in my computer. So, I have to rephotograph them and then post them.

I draw and paint intuitively. Although I do want to work balancing intuition with principle. I'll post the paintings soon.

It's cold in Michigan. And to make matters worse I am sick. I'm behaving like a big baby too.

I'm really happy to be a part of this site and hope to learn a great deal from the… Continue

Added by Gregory Becker on December 14, 2008 at 4:47 — No Comments

One Fine(ish) Day

Back for another awesome day at Langs Beach with Eddie and Lillian. LOTS of learning had by all - more learning than painting I think, but after two days I think they've picked up most of the tools they will need to continue their painting development by themselves - ready to leave the nest. :-) The major problem we had was wanting to continue with the sunny painting from the previous trip, but the sun held out on us - only popping out about 15%… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 11, 2008 at 19:30 — No Comments

Water Lillies Study

Finished Sketch. Total time: 3 hrs.

Here's a painting I did yesterday. It's based on a field sketch and photography for a commission I'm working on. I expect to take a while on this commission, so I'll go through a few sketches like this one. Have been looking at Monet a lot, so it will be interesting to see what comes out of it all.

I pulled my old Winsor & Newton… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 10, 2008 at 15:30 — 3 Comments

Langs Beach Lesson

Thanks Richard, you are right it was a perfect day. Really enjoyed picking your brains and could have continued for another couple of hours. Very informative and well delivered lesson in a perfect setting. Eager to continue next week. I think that you have cured me of reaching for the rigger every 5 mins. We appreciate very much the effort that you put into the day and for giving us an insight into the world of a professional artist.

One more item for your lesson notes that will stay… Continue

Added by Eddie Aldridge on December 4, 2008 at 15:39 — 1 Comment

Commission - Day 3

I started off today in the studio but the fumes forced me outside after a couple of hours. So here's the painting in the carport after a day spent on the mist and the midground landscape. Actually I spent about another hour on it after this photo was taken. A very satisfying day's work - nothing went horribly wrong and I managed to stay in the 'flow' or the 'zone' for much of the day. Much nicer without the fumes clogging my… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 3, 2008 at 19:30 — 3 Comments

Painting Lesson at Langs Beach

Spent a fantastic day at Langs Beach yesterday with Lillian and Eddie - 2 avid beginners. They've been following the Bob Ross technique and decided it was time to up their game. They both did really well and we all learned a lot. Every time I teach I learn something new. The weather came right after a gray start and we all felt really lucky to be their painting in such a perfect spot. We decided early on to focus on a small area of the painting… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on December 3, 2008 at 9:30 — 2 Comments

Commission - Day 2

A day spent in the sky.

Long day yesterday - about 10 hours at the easel. I had to keep going while the paint was wet but I did manage to fit in a swimming lesson with Danielle (4.5yrs) at 3pm, which kept me going. Am letting that dry today and working on other stuff - gives me a break from the fumes too. I use Chroma Archival Oils (with odourless solvent) which is supposed to be low toxicity, but I think my body has developed a dislike for… Continue

Added by Richard Robinson on November 19, 2008 at 10:00 — 2 Comments

Commission - Day 1

Well, it's about time I picked up the brush again. Got a friend (Bruce) working in the studio with me today - nice to have the company. Will continue with my current commission...

The Design in Photoshop.