After sketching out the Lucie Stern Theatre building on canvas last week, I embarked on my first pass across the canvas with my oil paints.

I chose to paint this building because I’ve always loved the architecture and also ...

This week I finally completed my fourth oil painting. The last challenge I had with this painting was in an area that I had painted first: the trees in the top right corner of the painting. The leaves ...

This week, I adjusted the tone of some of the walls. However, the main focus was on the greenery in the foreground which I was looking forward to painting because it really adds a pop of color to ...

I am now at the point of the painting where the anxiety level starts to climb. In the beginning of a painting, it is easy to add a stroke here or there and see significant improvements in the ...

This week, I warmed up and lightened the colors of the fountain so that it would not look so foreboding.

If you recall, last week, because of the darkness of the fountain relative to the other elements of the ...

In class this past week, I finally moved onto my second pass of the foreground which includes the fountain and the dining area in bright blue. Up until now, these areas were just blocked in as part of ...

Last week, Lee Hartman looked over at my painting from across the classroom and noted I had a “medium” painting. When she first declared this, I wasn’t sure what she meant. However, in general, I don’t ...

This past Saturday, I had another oil painting class with Lee. This was a class I was looking at with a bit of dread. If you recall, I left the last class realizing the balcony at the top ...

I wanted to give you an update on my fourth painting. The subject matter is a photo I took while exploring the streets of Rome. I had been walking everywhere by foot and as a narrow street cleared, ...

Loni talks goals. Lee talks shoes. Can a student become a master painter?

One of the most important talents of oil painting, as I am finding out from my time in Lee Hartman’s art classes, is the ability to see the colors in a photo or live subject. The ...

I’ve started my fourth oil painting that is based on a photo I took while walking the streets of Rome, Italy.

The city is full of beautifully aged fountains and plastered buildings with bold colored shutters. This particular clearing ...

After travels to Loreto Baja and Australia, I am happy to be back to my regularly scheduled oil painting classes with Lee Hartman on Saturdays at University Art in San Jose, CA.

Today was a momentous day as, with ...