Venice Light & the Landscape Course

What pitfalls does an artist face when painting big?

When I first started painting large-scale canvases, I had the luxury of free expression, a paint-splattered studio and no-one to please but myself – I had a ball!

But the experience of this much-anticipated freedom when working larger scale actually started to have a negative effect on my creations. I couldn’t seem to get what I wanted on the canvas quick enough.

As the size of the canvas increased, areas I was used to changing with one brushstroke, seemed to take ages. I’d run out of paint, then have to mix some more and spend hours fighting against the quick drying times of acrylics.

I’d press on the easel too strongly and the whole thing would lurch forward and my paint would go flying (note to self – an H-Easel is an excellent investment!)

The paintings either looked great up close to the canvas or great from right across the studio, but getting that balance between the two was hard.

So, what was the key to going from small-scale to large-scale and achieving a landscape that captures the atmosphere of the scene in a painterly style?

Vision? Confidence? Talent?

It came down to something far less exciting.

Planning.

To find the ‘big picture’ you need to go small first

I found that the same 3 key things kept on cropping up in my work:

1. If the paintings tonal values (black, whites and greys) on a small scale didn’t work, the bigger scale painting didn’t work.

2. If I planned a colour harmony before I began, I could be more expressive with my mark making knowing there was an underlying backbone that worked.

3. Spending time getting the drawing laid out was always worth it – even though I was aiming for an impressionistic painting style.

How to create a large-scale Impressionistic painting in Acrylics

I’ve developed this painting course inspired by a Venetian Sunset to help guide you through the process of moving from small-scale to large-scale acrylic paintings.

For me as a painter, there is nothing more exciting than the fabulous lighting conditions, amazing architecture and the warm pastel shades of the Venetian skyline. Observing the hidden tones, colour in the shadows and the vibrant reflected colours in the water lends itself to a broken colour Impressionistic style.

“No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition.”

Claude Monet, Artist

What’s in the Course?

• 1 x large-scale finished painting of a Venice Sunset, taking you step-by-step from drawing, right through to the final glazes.
• 3 x small supporting studies to practice your techniques and refine your vision.
• 8-downloadable video lessons, split into separate chapters that follow on sequentially.
• Step-by-step instructional videos so that you can follow along at your own pace.
• Downloadable JPEG reference images and drawing worksheets to work alongside, including a mapped out grid for scaling up your drawing, black and white printouts and a full materials list.
• Over 4 hours of detailed video instruction.
• Lifetime access, downloadable on separate devices.