Draw Paint Academy - Learn to Draw and Paint, Art History, Tips and Tutorials
Here’s a brief lesson on observation from a painting I’m working on. Take a look at the reference photo. In particular, the cascading water. There’s a lot going on here! Let’s try to make sense of it. See the annotated image and my accompanying notes below. 1. A calm area where the water is pooling. ... Read more The post A Lesson on Observation: Water and Changing Planes appeared first on Draw…
I’m working on another painting featuring the Upper Portals of Mount Barney. I wanted to share a quick lesson from the painting so far. I needed to make the light parts of the mountain a bit lighter and crisper. I tried the obvious solution of going over the top with a lighter and cleaner color. ... Read more The post A Unique Solution to a Simple Problem appeared first on Draw Paint Academy .
The Jacaranda painting I did for the Tree Workshop was accepted as a finalist for the Brisbane Rotary Art Show. Yesterday, I attended the pre-opening ceremony for artists and sponsors with my eldest daughter Elora. Elora has been showing a keen interest in art and I wanted to show her that artists are celebrated and ... Read more The post Jacaranda Painting and the Brisbane Rotary Art Show…
Below is my most recent painting, featuring a rocky creek in the Upper Portals of Mount Barney, Australia. I hiked to this spot with two friends back in December 2025. We camped around the corner for one night. I’ll walk you through how I painted it. Reference Photo Here’s the reference photo I painted from: ... Read more The post Painting a Rocky Creek in the Upper Portals appeared first on Draw…
I spent most of the morning working out what I’ll paint next. I settled on another scene from my hike to the Upper Portals at Mount Barney. This area was also the subject of my last painting, which you can see here. I think if you’re going to paint a subject multiple times, you may ... Read more The post Painting the Same Subject Multiple Times appeared first on Draw Paint Academy .
I haven t been painting as much lately, as I have been busy putting the finishing touches on the next workshop on ponds and lakes (which should be ready within the next two weeks). But I did manage to complete one new painting: Mount Barney, Upper Portals. I hiked to this spot with two friends back ... Read more The post Fresh Off the Easel: Mount Barney, Upper Portals appeared first on Draw Paint…
After writing the ground post, I was reminded of Julian Onderdonk s work. He was a master of painting the ground, often studded with bluebonnets, cactus, and other wildflowers. His work is iconic of the Texan landscape (with bluebonnets being the official state flower of Texas). I went down a bit of a rabbit hole reading ... Read more The post The Life and Work of Julian Onderdonk appeared first…
My recent New Zealand, Autumn Colors painting is a great demonstration of painting fallen leaves and other ground matter. Let s go a bit deeper on that topic. The ground plays an essential but understated role in almost all paintings, and especially landscape paintings. It also seems to be a common problem area for students. They ... Read more The post Tips for Painting Fallen Leaves, Grass, Dirt,…
I’ve got this painting to the stage where it’s almost done but doesn’t quite feel finished. The problem is, I’m not sure what else it needs. And I don’t want to just add paint and detail just for the sake of it. That’s a sure-fire way to overwork it. I want to share with you ... Read more The post Not Finished but Not Sure What It Needs appeared first on Draw Paint Academy .
I was looking for something in the archives when I came across a few photos of my old “studio”. This was from back in 2016, around the time I was starting Draw Paint Academy. I lived with my brother in a two-bedroom apartment. I had to paint in my room with the easel set up ... Read more The post My Old “Studio” appeared first on Draw Paint Academy .