Study of a lemon. Part of the online Paint Coach Fundamentals of Oil Painting course.

First time "completing" the lemon. I saw several things off about the shape, and going with planes defined as "wedges" instead of "shapes of light" did not work as well as I had hoped.

So I went directly on top and started redefining the planes with wrap around brush strokes.

My second attempt is MUCH closer to the Paint Coach modeled tutorial painting.

#oilpainting #learnpainting #stilllife #paintcoach #arizonaartist

The saga of the Lemon Tutorial

Other than two other small studies, this is my first landscape painting. I am following along with Paint Coach's Method of Oil Painting course. It is a scene from Italy with a small vineyard nestled between a hill and s small but dense forest next to a pond. The reflection of the trees radiates across the water of the shallow pond.

Here, I was testing out lightening the leaves on the front plane of the most light toward tree. I think it was a good instinct, but I lost the correct value and overdid it. The front tree, instead if shimmering in the sun looks more like a christmas tree.

This second study was just about capturing shapes and values on a small landscape with an oversized brush. The pallet was Ultramarine Blue, Alzarian Crimson, Cadmium Lemon and Titanium White.

The study shows a little red house beyond a fence in disrepair next to s pond beneath a shade tree. Mountains rise beyond a growing field behind what could even be a barn nestled at the end if a field.

Today I worked on some landscape studies. I have backed off of my own work to take some stock in my classes, my progress, and where I feel like I need some more fundamental practice.

Details in Alt Txt.

#oilpainting #paintcoach #landscapepainting #arizonaartist #newartist #fineart #learnpainting

Lee painting a model of a still life, painting from life instead of a photo. Most of the other students worked on a picture from home. The still life from this side is two bottles, sunflowers, an old coffee pot, and a couple of pears.

Lee's 2 hour final painting.

My painting just after blocking in simple shapes.

My final oil painting for my first live art class. 2 hours from still life model, no photo.

Had my final Basics of Oil Painting class on Wednesday night. Two of us were brave enough to tackle the "live model" still life.

#oilpainting #learnpainting #stilllife #arizonaartist #fineart #mesaartscenter

A painting inspired by the still life portion of Chris Forza's "Paint Coach Method of Oil Painting course. Painting depicts a wooden bucket of apples that has been knocked over on a table allowing three apples to roll out. One is still deep in the bucket. This is the first full practice of The Method. SIMPLIFY. SHAPE. SHARPEN. This is the second of my Paint Coach paintings. If you've been following along the sunflowers 18x24 was also from one of his courses. I'm impressed with my growth in terms of speed after taking my Mesa Center for the Arts class. This painting was much easier for me to keep up with the video class, than the previous. Much less pausing than Sunflowers.

Today's oilpainting

Cider House Rules

9x12 " oil on canvas

Approx 6 hours brushtime

#oilpainting #arizonaartist #paintcoach #stilllife #learnpainting

#oilpainting #arizonaartist #southwesternartist #stilllifepainting #realism #learnpainting #art #fineart

Dem Apples
5x7" oil on canvas
December 2025

11 hours brushtime
Had been painting approximately 2 weeks.

Pears on Black Velvet
5x7" oil on canvas
February 2026

4 hours. 1 sitting.

This was 2 of 2 offerings for my third Basics of Oil Painting class. I did the first choice in class (a large green pitcher with three oranges) in class on canvas paper, but I took this one also to do at home. It is a brittle mellowed leaf, mostly flat, but with one "leaf" of the Maple Tree Leaf is bent away from view. There is a curl at the very top of the "top leaf". The leaf is placed in a painted salt jar. The background is Ultramarine Blue with some scrubbed in Lamp Black. The foreground is a soft baby blue. Brittle Winter 9x12 Oil on canvas panel February 2026

Added a second layer this morning. I do not think I will add another, when dry, I think this is done.

This is my fourth completed painting.

More info in Alt Text

Brittle Winter

Oil on 9x12 canvas panel

February 2026

#oilpainting #realism #paintdaily #learnpainting #glazing

This is my second practice of painting cosmic clouds and nebula in space. I'm trying to practice on multimedia paper before moving back to Cosmic Cowboy canvas.

It is definitely a blending game. Here, I can see exactly where I should've stopped.

#oilpainting #learnpainting #cosmicart #azartist

Cosmic Cowboy (wip) Oil on 9x12 inch canvas Painting shows a cowboy in a white western style shirt on an orange background. The face is a Lamp Black void (for now). The cowboy wears a woven straw hat, with a beaded headband.

After yesterday's session, I couldn't live with the perspective mistake as the hatband wound towards the back of the head. I scared half the hatband away with a pallet knife, and redid it. Very meticulous lining with a Utrecht #2 round brush.

After completing the hat band, the perspective is still not perfect, but the portion is right. The hat band is an alternating diamond and cross pattern done in alternating lines of : Turquoise (mixed from Titanium White, Cobalt Blue, and Pthalo Green), Lamp Black, Cadmium Red Deep, Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Lemon, and Titanium White.

I added darklights and highlights by alternating concentric circle bands of mix of (Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Lemon) in two different shades and tints. For the top of the hat, I used the lightest of those tints for the bulk of the hat, with darker colors used only for the indentation and shape. I used a slight off white for alternating lines on the highlight.

#oilpainting #southwestartist #fineart #contemporaryart #surrealism #cosmiccowboy #dailypainting #learnpainting

Spent another 3 hours on this piece today working on the hat and hat band.

An oil painting on an 8x10 canvas panel of a single, brittle, mellowed leaf, in a white painted Mason jar. The background is Ultramarine Blue with Lamp Black, the foreground is just a touch of Pthalo Green and Titanium White. After drying, I will apply a very lightly tinted yellow glaze to the leaf to unify.

#oilpainting #stilllife #artist #art #fineart #learnpainting #dailypainting

Work in Progress

Oil on 8x10 canvas panel

2.5 hours brushtime

A tome of a book for any Painter's studio, this beautiful book is hardcover and just absolutely gorgeous showcasing a great deal of the author's personal work, and, like his other book, complete with exercises throughout. Highly recommend.

New @toddmcasey.bsky.social book.
Three days off.
Class tomorrow.

The only thing bringing me peace inside, stillness inside, is painting.

#oilpainting #paintdaily #stilllifepainting #learnpainting

A bouquet of sunflowers in ann old metal dairy container with a mug of coffee, an apple bucket and two granny Smith apples. Oil painting on 18x24 inch canvas

#oilpainting #paintcoach #stilllife #art #southwestartist #wip #paintdaily #learnpainting

Almost there.

Oil on 18x24 inch canvas

This is the assignment painting for Chris Forza's (Paint Coach) Basic Drawing for Painting course. He gets his painting to this stage in about an hour and 50 minutes. It took me closer to eight hours, but I'm really happy with my progress. This photo is also a cool juxtaposition of the final form of the objects versus the straight line stick Drawing to place those objects. I learned a lot during this quick online course, and it is well worth the 47 bucks it cost.

#oilpainting #paibtcoach #stilllife #art #artist #southwestartist #wip #paintdaily #learnpainting

Trying to get the lower half squared away and caught up to Paint Coach in his Basic Drawing for Painting Course. Tomorrow... sunflowers.

After following along with Chris Forza, The Paint Coach on Instagram, I completed the Toning the Canvas, and Drawing segments of the practice painting of his online course, The Basics of Drawing for Painting. The drawing was done on the easel with a small flat brush and depicts a bouquet of sunflowers in an old metal milk jug for a vase, next to an empty apple bucket, a mug of coffee, and two apples on a checkered kitchen towl.

Work in Progress painting in darkest values. Pallet for this painting is: Cadmium Red Medium, Alizarian Crimson, Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Lemon, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna and Titanium White.

Filling in right side values of the 18x24 inch canvas with basic values and large shapes.

After 5 hrs brushtime into what took paint coach a total of 2 and a half hours, I am about a third of the way through the course practice painting.

#oilpainting #paintcoach #stilllife #art #artist #learnpainting #paint

5 hours in on this piece. (This is the painting assignment for Paint Coach's The Basics of Drawing for Painting online class. He does this painting in 2 and a half hours.) I'm 45 minutes into the process. LOTS OF PAUSING, lol.

Outdoor shot of one of the entrances to Mesa Center for the Arts.

Breezeway at Mesa Center for the Arts heading to the Studio wing.

My first day mixing a color map of blue mixed with primaries, black, and white.

My class is 11 adults. 5 men. 6 ladies. 30's and up (guessing). Teacher is Rae Wilson, fiery young black woman, who is super energetic and fun!

Last night was my first night of my very first art class. After starting to learn to oil paint right before Thanksgiving, I'm excited for a real teacher, and the ability to get feedback!

#oilpainting #mesaartscenter #learnpainting #art #artist

A native bowl glued from several pieces shown on a turquoise cloth foundation with a cholla cactus, a wildflower and a desert willow bean pod. A Cadmium deep red provides the background. There has been a lot of learning with this piece, about 12.5 hours of brushtime, but a solid 4 of that has been working out mistakes. Certainly my most complex piece to date.

A culprit caught me painting! I think this is the first picture taken of me painting. Several finished practice pieces hang on the drying line behind me. The Native bowl painting is on the wooden desk easel, and I am working on The Joker painting.

The shadowbox reference photo for The Joker. This is a black and white, matte finish Joker sculpture. He has a BANG gun and is standing on a batman symbol foundation. Black velvet provides the foundation and a paisley backdrop cloth is the background.

2 hours into The Joker. Just backgrounds and deepest shadows to set values.

#oilpainting #paintdaily #learnpainting #stilllife #realism #art #artist #contemporaryart

With yesterday's studio session I completed 100 hrs total brushtime since picking up oil painting on Nov 25. It feels like an achievement. I put another couple hours into the native pot and started #joker.

The Oil Painter's Color Handbook by Todd M. Casey depicting a yellow rose hanging upside down.

The Art of Still Life by Todd M. Casey depicting a bowl of lemons on the cover.

Portrait Painting Atelier by Suzanne Brooker depicting a young lady in a green tank top on the cover.

The Elements of Landscape Oil Painting by Suzanne Brooker showing clouds over a field with distant gloomy trees.

#oilpainting #books #art #artsky #booksky #learnpainting #toddcasey #suzannebrooker #haroldspeed

My six go-to art books.

8 varieties of apples shown in a porcelain bowl, tilted beneath a three bulb chandelier light, causing most shadows ro fall directly down into the bowl. From Left: Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Envy, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, (to center and down) Cosmic Crisp, Honeycrisp. This is my second attempt at an oil painting on canvas.

#oilpainting #art #artist #painting #apples #realism #learnpainting #dailypainting #paintdaily #oiloncanvas #gamblinoilpaint

Put another hour into completing the apples project today.

'Dem Apples'
Oil on 5x7 inch canvas
Gamblin 1980 series oils

More info in Alt Text

Original shadowbox reference photo showing an ancient native bowl with black concentric circles and interspersed square block designs. There are several large cracks in the bottom of the bowl. Photographed on a tourist cloth with a Cadmium Red backdrop with cholla cactus, a yellow wildflower, and a desert willow beanpod.

Grayscale version of reference photo to check values.

My oil painting showing proudly defined color patterns, detail work has begun on both the cholla and beanpod.

This grayscale version of my painting shows that there is still quite a lot of value work to be done but the darkest marks of all four colors are correct.

Day 3 on the ancient bowl project.

Work in progress.
Oil on 9x12 canvas panel
From an original reference photo set up in #shadowbox lighting.

7.5 hrs brushtime

#oilpainting #painting #art #stilllife #realism #artsky #artist #blueskyart #learnpainting #explore #create #artflourishesundertyranny

Shadow box made out of a plastic storage container. A 60 watt soft white bulb is inserted through the side to provide light and shadows.

The final composition reference photo showing an ancient native clay bowl with a piece of cholla cactus, a yellow desert wildflower, and a desert willow bean pod. Folded turquoise cloth provides the foreground surface, and a deep Cadmium Red cloth provides the backdrop.

A grayscale version of the reference photo to check values.

3 hrs brushtime. Only the five darkest values have been applied to the 9x12 canvas panel. Shadows gave been mixed from Ivory Black, Cadmium Red Deep, Sap Green, Burnt Sienna, and deep blue made from Cobalt Blue, Pthalo Green, and Ivory Black.

#oilpainting #painting #art #artist #artistsofbluesky #artsky #learnpainting #shadowbox #stilllife #realism

Started on the ancient bowl today, after setting up the reference in the shadowbox. Fixing the concentric circle confusion in the bottom of the bowl is first thing up fir tomorrow's session.

Oil painting in progress on 5x7 inch canvas panel showing 8 varieties of apples in a tilted bowl. Still needs highlights, some shadows, and reflections in bowl.

Grayscale of the same painting to showcase values and shadows tones.

Reference photo for painting. Porcelain bowl is set inside a glass bowl to tilt for lighting.

Grayscale version of reference photo.

#oilpainting #painting #art #artist #apples #stilllife #learnpainting #realism

'Dem Apples'

Oils on 5x7 inch canvas panel

About 8 hrs brushtime

Work in Progress - almost there

Oil painting in progress showing a collection of varieties of apples.

Reference photo showing a variety of apples arranged in a bowl, then set inside another bowl to pivet the bowl up to a slant.

#oilpainting #painting #paintingprocess #artsky #artist #learnpainting #stilllife #apples

Day 4

Work in Progress

'The Apples'

Oil on 5x7 inch canvas panel

8 hrs brushtime

I think 2 more sessions....

w/ reference photo

5 of the 9 apples are nearing completion. Still not sure what I'm going to do with background (was a dark wood table).

Work in progress converted to grayscale to double check values.

Original photo of nine different types of apples in a porcelain bowl.

Original photo in grayscale to provide reference for values.

#oilpainting #painting #art #artist #blueskyart #artsky #apples #learnpainting

About 4 hours in on this Apples piece.

Oil on 5x7 inch canvas
Work in progress

Work in progress oil painting on 5x7 inch panel showing a bowl of nine different varieties of apples

9 different apples in a bowl, lit from above and daylight from the kitchen window.

#oilpainting #art #blueskyart #stilllife #apples #learnpainting
#wip

Work in progress

Apples
Oil on 5x7 in. canvas panel
About 2 hrs brushtime

Value Study (still life with cylinder, pitcher, and an apple) with the limited Zorn Pallet. Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Light, Ivory Black, Titanium White.

Same still life converted to grayscale to show values.

#oilpainting #painting #art #blueskyart #zornpallet #stilllife #learnpainting

Today's practice was doing a grayscale still life, focusing on values, with the very limited Anders Zorn pallet.

Oil on
5.5x8.5 multi media paper

3 hrs brushtime

A photo of a painting placed on a wooden desk and surrounded by acrylic markers, fluorite crystals, and leaves. The painting features a puffy, cloud-like tree in purple/pink/blue tones.

In this month’s Patreon tutorial, learn how to paint a dreamy, cloud-like tree with acrylic markers (or any other opaque medium)! 💜

Check it out: patreon.com/lindenshieldarts

#TraditionalArt #AcrylicMarkers #LearnPainting #ArtTutorial #SmallCreator

A photo of three different lanterns painted on black paper, placed on a wooden desk and surrounded by coloured pencils, a paint brush, acrylic markers, leaves, and fluorite crystals. The left lantern has the shape of a witchy hat and features pink and teal stained glass; the center lantern is oblong and greenish, spectral smoke escaping from it; the right lantern glows demonically red, with a face reminiscent of Jack-o’-lanterns.

Learn how to paint these three spooky lanterns with my latest mixed media tutorial, available on my Patreon! ✨

Have a look: www.patreon.com/posts/how-to...

#FantasyArt #TraditionalArt #Spooky #MixedMedia #Gouache #LearnPainting

A photo of a portrait-format painting placed on a wooden desk and surrounded by paint brushes, paint tubes, a palette, and leaves for decoration. The painting features a misty, purplish nighttime canyon with a crescent moon above a fallen tree trunk that creates a bridge between rocks in the foreground. Scraggly pine trees frame the scene.

There’s a new gouache scenery tutorial up on my Patreon! 💜
Learn to paint the mysterious Crescent Canyon with a 1h video tutorial~
Available for the Apprentice tier and above.

Sign up: patreon.com/lindenshield...

#FantasyArt #TraditionalArt #Gouache #PaintingTutorial #LearnPainting

A photo of an open black paper sketchbook, placed on a wooden table and surrounded by small paint tubs, coloured pencils, and leaves for decoration. The left page features a green tree on a seemingly floating chunk of rocks with lush greenery and hovering lights at its base. The right page features a slightly larger tree with purple foliage, also on a floating island, turquoise water spilling over its edges.

Join the Apprentice or Adept tier on my Patreon in March and use the code SPRINGFEVER to get 15% off your first month! 🩷

Get access to tutorials, process videos & pictures, live streams, painting prompts, and much more!

Have a look: patreon.com/lindenshieldarts

#learnpainting #gouache #tutorials

I finished this one up awhile ago and just forgot to post it with moving and everything. It was a fantastic lesson in expression in minis.

Model:
Lieutenant Eggath by #witchsongminis

#miniature #demon #expressivepainting #witchsong #darkfantasy #learnpainting #proacryl #paintingminiatures

Last Remnants Of Snow On Bridestones Moor, Acrylic on paper. This is actually quite an old painting but I still like it.

#art #artist #painting #tutorials #artcourses #watercolour #acrylic #learnpainting