Join

Composition, References & Creative Decisions

For the moments when you want to go beyond simply following along. This section will help you break down references, simplify complicated scenes, make creative choices, explore perspective, and build more confidence in your own ideas.

Best Place to Start

Start here if you want help making choices before or during a painting. These lessons are useful when you want to simplify a scene, follow your own ideas, or feel more confident adapting a tutorial.

The Magic of Three

In this class I'll show you how I use a three layer approach to break down a reference photo or an idea into manageable steps.

Forest Shadows

This tutorial shows how you can break down an awesome lighting effect into more simple steps.

Finding a Little Magic

Let's bring an idea to life from a little spark of inspiration found in a reference photo!

Techniques

Breaking Down a Reference Photo

Let's take a look at my approach to breaking down a reference photo to make painting easier.

Finding Inspiration

In this lesson I'll walk you through how I use real-life to inspire the basic layouts for abstract landscapes.

Autumn Path Study

Sometimes we might want to quickly test out an idea before we commit to a bigger painting. Here I'll show you how I approach this.

Landscape Slices

Loosen up with some abstract landscapes, focusing on color and simple layers to capture a scene.

Creating the Perfect Torn Edge

You can add so much character to a painting with a torn edge. This is my favorite way to create a curl-free torn page.

Live Class Replays

The Magic of Three

In this class I'll show you how I use a three layer approach to break down a reference photo or an idea into manageable steps.

Finding a Little Magic

Let's bring an idea to life from a little spark of inspiration found in a reference photo!

Mix & Match

In this class we'll combine several techniques or elements from different tutorials to create a new scene.

Color Menu

In this live class, you'll learn how to extract a color palette you love from a painting to use in another scene.

Painting for Fun

In this class I'll walk you through my creative process when I sit down to paint for fun!

The Mossy Woods

In this live class i will show you how I take inspiration from a photograph and turn it into a magical scene!

Inspired by Ghibli

In this live class I'll show you how to take a photograph of a real place and turn it into something that looks like it belongs in a Studio Ghibli movie.

A Ghibli-Inspired Night

In this live class we'll be painting this pretty night landscape in the style of a Studio Ghibli scene, adding a glowing plant and some floating fireflies.

Deep in the Woods

In this class we'll take a reference photo and give it a little twist of magic to create a unique scene.

Neon Forest

For this live class we'll be using the color palette from Neon Dream to make a new, unique painting!

Painting a Night Scene

In this class I'll show you how I take a regular painting and turn it into a night scene using some clever color changes.

Breaking Down a Reference Photo

Let's take a look at my approach to breaking down a reference photo to make painting easier.