SUMMER STUDIES: Top Three Tips for Summer Painting
by Monika Blichar

Summer is just around the corner and with sun and light to inspire you, it is the perfect time to paint in studio! Here are our top three tips for painting in studio this summer!

Choose Your Subject Matter-If you don’t have a target, how will you know where to shoot? 

When you are choosing something to paint this summer, try to choose something you haven’t ever tried before. Think of places you have visited or will visit this summer and take photographs then add these to your collection of what you want to paint. Recently, I went to Saltspring Island with students and captured an array of beautiful images that I would like to paint this summer.

Here are two photos. On the left is the original photo at Cafe Talia on Saltspring Island. On the right is an edited photo in the SuperPhoto App which helps me see the painting before I create it. 

Get Outside!

Make sure to take advantage of good weather and go outside to look at colour, shadow, perspective and light. With every season, there are new aspects to observe when it comes to nature and our surroundings. If you are painting cityscapes, be sure to go wander around and look at buildings and how the sunset or morning glow affects light and shadows. If you love nature, try walking in the forest at different times of the day to see the colour differences in leaves or trees during different times of the day. Think about how to create these colours and also how to capture the movement of a forest in your painting.

Challenge Yourself

Painting new subject matter can be a challenge but can also be immensely rewarding. Challenge yourself by trying new subject matter or experimenting with using new materials. We recommend getting new pastes or resin sands and trying them out in your next pieces. If you haven’t tried yet, here is a product we recommend by GOLDEN

As usual, we invite you to join us in studio and paint with other beginner and experienced artists. Our studio special this month is $17 art classes (reg. $40) which you can find Here! All proceeds from this promotion help us meet our summer fundraising goals with proceeds to summer arts programs, Art World Expo production and support for artists in our community.