A beginner's guide to water-mixable oils

Paint this easy landscape with me. I'll show you step-by-step how to paint it, so you too can create this picture and begin the journey of painting in oils.

See what paint colors and brushes we will be using in this first landscape painting.

Begin the painting by drawing it out with water thinned paint. Add the darkest passages so that you can begin to see if the composition is working or not. Don't forget to download the reference photo from Resources.

Here we paint the mountains in the background and then add the sky. Learn about how to make a sky "interesting"  and how to make the mountains recede by their color and value and the use of sharp and broken edges.

Let's now block in the land with cool pale greens in the distance and more detailed warmer greens in the foreground. Find out how to get the hedges to recede into the background by color mixing on the painting surface.

Now I'll show you how to paint the farmhouse in as simple a way as possible. Also let's see just how little detail we can add to the whole painting to keep it fresh and yet "readable". You can download my finished painting from Resources.

A quick intro to painting trees which I hope will excite you to have a go at this subject. I show how to think of painting trees in just two value masses.

Learn how to make a tonal sketch that will help you to clarify the structure of the tree mass in the photo. Then mix the colors that we will use in the painting and draw in the outlines on your board.

We now block in the trees, starting with a dark value and then adding the mid values.

Now we add in the sky and the sea and this allows us to shape the contour of the trees and create good sharp edges and lost-and-found edges.

Finally we add in the sand and also the tree trunks and the sky holes that make the trees look real. With a final flourish we put in the sign post.

In this short video (originally published on YouTube) I show you how to paint trees using the Magic Grid method of composition.

Let's see how to paint convincing skies in three different ways. Firstly let's see how to paint a blue sky (not as basic as you may think!), then a scene with summer clouds, and finally a sunset.

Clear blue skies are not simply one blue color. Here I explain why not, and how to paint them in an impressionistic way that lets them reflect what really happens in the sky.

Summer clouds are great to add into any painting. Here I'll show you how to do that. Remember that clouds follow the same rules of perspective as anything else - they get smaller and closer together as they go into the distance and converge at a vanishing point. In this step we will draw in the picture and add tonal values to help with the following stages. There is a reference photo to download in Resources.

We will paint in the land before adding the sky. Keep the painting loose and expressive and don't fiddle too much! Once a colour is down, leave it alone and try not to mess with it.

Let's add the sky following the principle of darker towards the top and lighter towards the horizon, then add the clouds.

we begin this painting by drawing in the main shapes. Download the reference photo from Resources. You will need a board to paint on that is 8" x 10" (20 x 25cm).

Let's block in the land with some dark greens and purples, making sure that the tonal value is dark enough so that the sunset will shine bright.

In this part of the painting we will block in the sky and clouds using a variety of neutral colors for the clouds and saturated colors for the sky. The end result will be a "jigsaw" of colors that we will mould and amend in the final stage (next video).

As a final step we need to smooth out some of the stark edges we have created and blend some of the colors together to create the soft feel of the clouds. You can see my finished painting in Resources.

this painting of Monet's water lily pond is a great introduction to painting water. There's reflections, depth and things floating on top. it maty sound complex but I'll walk you through it step-by-step.

We start our painting of this lily pond in Monet's garden in Giverney, France by drawing out the main masses on a 8" x 10" gessoed board. Don't forget to download the reference photo from resources.

It's time to block in the picture, so paint along with me.

Adding the details brings the painting to life and creates the feeling of water.
Download my finished painting in Resources.

This painting looks complex, but buildings are easier to paint than you may think. Let me show you how you can paint this scene.

As this is a complicated subject we need some help in getting the drawing down quickly and accurately. So in this video I show you how to grid up your painting surface to correspond with the already gridded up reference photo which is downloadable under Resources.
Don't let the complexity of the image stop you from having a go. I'll show you how to make it very simple and impressionistic - you can do it!

Let's start with the drawing which needs to have the main big shapes in roughly the right place! The gridded support will help you with this. We will also shade in the areas that will be in shadow.

It's time to block in the dark values in the painting, keeping them interesting and varied in color while keeping the tonal value the same.

Now for the light areas, making sure they are very light in contrast with the dark areas. A little yellow in plenty of white will create sunshine for you. The sky and the water are also painted in at this stage, using the sky to mold and shape the forms of the domes and rooftops.

Finally we add the details, keeping them loose and impressionistic and not adding too many.

Texture can be fun to use and this section invites you to explore and play with various additional materials to your paint.

An oil painting does not just have to be composed of oil paint. In this video I want to show you some ways of adding other elements into our painting that give texture. See how pencil and charcoal, palette knives, spraying with water and spattering paint, collage and even gold leaf can enhance your painting and help you develop your style.

Take a peek at my studio set-up where I try to keep everything within easy reach and much of it is fixed to the wall to save space.