Simplifying the Landscape with Oils and Palette Knives with Alisa Beck

Simplifying the Landscape with Oils and Palette Knives

Friday & Saturday, November 6–7
10:00 AM–4:00 PM
All Levels, no experience necessary
Number of Students: Max 10
$300, Supplies Needed, Lunch Included on Saturday

Check out Alisa Beck's Instagram!

How do you take a photograph filled with information and turn it into a painting?

In this two-day oil painting workshop, artist Alisa Beck will guide beginner to intermediate painters through the process of simplifying the landscape—learning to look beyond the details of a photograph and identify the shapes, values, colors, and relationships that make a landscape compelling.

Participants will work from their own landscape photographs, learning how to edit the reference, strengthen the composition, establish large areas of light and dark, mix harmonious color, and develop a painting without feeling obligated to copy every detail.

Through demonstrations, group discussion, and individual instruction, Alisa will share her approach to building a landscape painting and how to turn intuition into decisions.

During the workshop, we will explore:

• Choosing and cropping a strong photographic reference
• Simplifying complicated landscapes into large shapes
• Creating a stronger composition by leaving things out
• Understanding value, light, and atmospheric depth
• Mixing intentional landscape colors
• Using warm and cool color relationships
• Using edges, brushwork, palette knife, and paint application expressively
• Moving beyond the photograph to create a painting that feels personal

The goal is not to reproduce a photograph—it is to use the photograph as a starting point and discover what the painting needs.

Supplies Need

Oil Paint

Bring your favorite palette of oil colors. You do not need to purchase new colors if you already have a palette that works well for you.

For anyone who would like a simple, versatile palette for learning color mixing, Alisa recommends a double-primary palette—a warm and cool version of each primary color:

• Warm Yellow: Cadmium Yellow Medium
• Cool Yellow: Cadmium Yellow Light or Lemon Yellow
• Warm Red: Cadmium Red Light or Medium
• Cool Red: Alizarin Crimson or Quinacridone Magenta
• Warm Blue: Ultramarine Blue
• Cool Blue: Cerulean Blue or Phthalo Blue
• Titanium White

Optional earth colors such as Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, or Transparent Oxide Red are welcome if they are already part of your palette.

Other Supplies

• Several of your own landscape photographs to use as references
• Oil painting brushes in a variety of sizes, including a few larger brushes
• Palette knife
• Painting palette
• Odorless mineral spirits (Gamsol)
• Painting medium - I recommend Galkyd Gel Medium, Liquin or similar
• Paper towels or shop towels, Viva are my preferred for texturizing and leaving no lint
• Container for cleaning brushes
• Apron or painting clothes
• Two painting surfaces, approximately 11 × 14, 12 × 16, or 16 × 20 inches
  (Canvas panels, stretched canvas, or prepared painting panels are all suitable.)

Participants are encouraged to bring several photographs rather than choosing only one ahead of time. We will begin by looking at the references together and discussing which images offer the strongest possibilities for simplification and composition

UPDATED CANCELLATION POLICY: Cancellations made 14 days or more in advance of the event will receive a refund equal to 50% of the cost of the event. Cancellations made within 14 days of the event will not receive a refund. This will help ensure that the instructor will be paid for their time and effort of teaching the event.