A 10"x8" plein air oil painting. I'm not sure how people crank out paintings in a couple hours outside. I've gone back several days for my paintings so far.

I thought I would share two paintings. I never had any painting classes or worked with other painters…Just no opportunity to do so. I started by copying from others to learn something of the art. I was convinced to start painting by an older friend who I saw a few times a year. He started painting in a period of depression following the death of his son. As I was going through a difficult I decided to give a try and found it very therapeutic (if I painted in the evening, I slept better)! Anyhow, the first painting below is my first attempt at painting. It is a detail from, if memory serves, a Cezanne. The second painting was my best attempt at portraiture, being a slightly more impressionistic version of a small photo of a painting of Johann Strauss, II I found in a book. I am considering signing up for Sam’s landscape painting school, as with some actual training I think I could greatly improve. My landscape have improved remarkably just by following his online videos. The problem is time (and, of course, cost). Time will tell. I will actually have some time off to ponder it this weekend (a holiday weekend here in the U.S.). What have people’s experiences been with the actual classes? I am sure they are good.

@Mak Olvik has prompted me to post a couple of my landscapes on 'Painters Hub' so here are four of my 2025 favourites from our annual exhibition based on the Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

Acrylic

While going to an exhibit in Allentown Pa, I passed some building art underway. Looked as if they were blocking in some of the scene. After spending three hours in the exhibit, they probably did about 50 square feet of the dark color. I’ll have to keep track of their progress, looks to be many months to years of work. Enjoy.