Hi, I am a landscape oil painter, I live in Northern California  such  beautiful place, I paint directly from the landscape and I bring my easel, and  materials and go  out into the places I love , then I  set up to  paint.  I put my purse in the trunk,  and take a walk  go find the exact viewpoint I like .   The important thing is to get to the place you like best, then set up and  make your first brushstroke.  Begin with yellow.

“Painting is a noble endeavor,” says Wolf Kahn. Take a brisk walk around the area, (Rudolf Steiner suggest this) to get your  blood  flowing .  Set up your easel, arrange your tools  and start to work.  Because John Singer Sargeant said, “paint from wherever your feet find themselves,” that is what he did, but recently I have been more picky and I find a place that has a view where I am able to see further out and around to light areas, from my spot. Never choose look into the sun.

Always begin with yellow. I paint for at the max two hours. regardless of time of day. Every two hours the light changes so the whole picture changes, in terms of dark and light, shadows, dark shadows define what the light is,a painter needs to use natural light as a guide, for the viewer’s eye to move around the painting.

Then I put that canvas aside and start new one, or move places or relax. walk around, or clean up and pack that canvas up. I know when to stop when I make two bad brushstrokes,  it’s time to  stop trying to paint the scene  and begin another painting.  I often bring some tea, sip, and sit quietly then take a photograph, to refresh my memory when I’m in the studio working on that canvas.

Back home, I put the canvas face to wall in the studio and don’t look at it for a week. Because to make a quick judgement is bad and you may attack the canvas and ruin good work.

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