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Without a doubt, the best thing about attending workshops is having someone with a trained eye look at your work and give you feedback for improvement. Inevitably the instructor will see something that you didn't even notice, something that seems like a glaring error once it's been pointed out but somehow slipped by during the painting process. How many times have teachers pointed out obvious tangents, skewed drawing, or inaccurate values in my work? More often than I'd care to admit. It's almost embarrassing just how blind I can be to these things when I'm in the heat of the moment [...]

One of the most exciting and creatively stimulating periods in my life was the time I spent studying at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Although I had been painting for a couple of years in Alaska prior to moving to California and attending AAU, I only had a smattering of formal training. At the Academy, I stepped into a whole new world, filled with art and artists, instructors and students, painting and drawing and art absolutely everywhere. I couldn't get enough of it. We lived in Davis, CA, and the three-hour commute (each way!) on Amtrak seemed a [...]

Next year will mark my 15th year of plein air painting. Through this decade and a half, I've probably made every mistake in the book and come up with a few news ones while I was at it. I've also been teaching workshops for ten years, which has forced me to analyze my process in order to convey my method and thoughts to my students.  Over the years, I've found that just about all artists - beginners and professionals and myself included- make so many of the same mistakes. In our rush to grab the scene before the light changes, we [...]