Hello and welcome to another Tonal Landscape Oil Painting Demonstration. Today, I’m your painter in residence, Michael Francis McCarthy, bringing you a piece called The Wading River. This four-by-six-inch painting was completed last week and exemplifies the Tonalist style. In this demonstration, I’ll...
Transcript and Key Insights The reference image came from a multi-step process using modern tools. I used AI image generation to help compose what would otherwise just be an empty field that doesn’t work visually on its own. I cut out a section...
Many aspiring painters fall into the same trap: they believe masterpieces simply emerge from natural talent. This misconception paralyzes them. They sketch grand visions, a 4×6 painting of hedgehogs at an amusement park, meticulously planned, worked on for years, but never finish because...
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The painting I’m bringing you today is called The Winding Way, 6×8. I really liked this painting and couldn’t wait to share it with you. The Ground Color Maybe you’ve noticed the tone of the board is not quite the same as the...
Transcript and Key Insights This photo is from about 12 to 13 years ago, just a basic image of a field with a couple of trees in the background. On its own, it’s laughable. But I set it aside a few weeks back...
Style is something I think a lot of painters starting out really care about: developing your own style. You can do it, and you will do it, if you stick with it. I relate artistic style and influences very closely together. Style is...
Transcript & Key Insights I’m working on a 5×10 today, and I want to keep it loose and impressionistic. The goal is that daylight, fresh morning quality without getting bogged down in detail. I’ve done this many times, but I want it to...
The painting I’m bringing you today is called Where Shadows Meet Light. It’s a 7×12, and I painted this last week. The Foundation: Board Prep We’re working on hardboard primed with several coats of house paint and some transparent gesso. One of the...
Transcription & Key Insights This is a row of trees with a little path coming through. One, two, three, four trees here, then one, two, three, four trees there. There’s a bunch of masses I’m gonna have to pull off, and one tree...
