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What is the fastest way to improve at painting? Almost every artist would agree that "daily practice" is key. And for good reason! It’s important to paint regularly to keep the rust off, and skills sharp. I liken it to physical activities, like running. If you do it every day for a little bit, it becomes second nature. If you skip a week or two, then it feels like you’re back at square one and it's hard to not want to rage quit. The problem is, it’s hard to WANT to paint every day, much less have the time to do...

A lot of people ask, “Why is it so important to paint directly from life, when you could easily just snap a photo?”. So I've been chewing on the question, trying to put it into words why I insist on painting an ever-changing subject with challenging obstacles, vs simply freezing time and painting at my own leisure. Am I just a masochist? Probably. But consider it like experiencing a song from the front row of a live band, vs. hearing it from a crappy CD in a 2004 toyota Corolla (If that’s your car, *HIGHFIVE* it’s mine too). It just doesn’t...

DAY 1 This was the third time we ventured down the windy highway 17 to sunny Capitola for the Annual Capitola Plein Air Festival. Last year wasn’t ideal for me for a number of reasons, but this time I came armed with a healthier, more positive mindset, and a serious hunger for some plein-air painting. The drive down was a bit hairy. Having two dogs made things even more...interesting, especially since they had some major car sickness (Just look at Pancake's poor face), and being late for check in just made things more stressful. However, once we got there and cleaned and...

After days of anxiously packing, unpacking, and repacking (and unpacking and repacking)...I was ready. Ready to fly back to Michigan for a juried plein-air event in Michigan. While the mitten state isn’t new to me (I had grown up there for the first 18 years of my life), seeing it with my new “art eyes” and painting its beauty was. Just being accepted to the Paint Grand Traverse event was such an honor. It's set in one of my favorite cities in all of Michigan, Traverse City. Known for its mouth watering cherries, fantastic views of Lake Michigan, and an abundance of popular...

If you’ve been a plein-air painter for a while, you’ve probably experienced this. The sun is scorching, your sweat and sunscreen is dripping fire into your eyes, your paints are dried to tiny crusty bits, and you want to finish but literally just...can’t. While I’m no pro at managing the heat, here are a few tricks I have up my sleeve to make it slightly more tolerable. Simply avoiding the heat isn’t an option for me, living in the “deep east bay” of California. Temps easily get over 105 in the summer, and boy the summers are LONG. Before I...