Landscape Painting Demonstration: Beyond Observed Color with “September Light”
Are we bound to the colors offered by the photo, or can we make the color in our paintings our own?
Mitchell Albala is an award-winning landscape painter, workshop instructor, and author. His semi-abstract and atmospheric landscapes have been exhibited nationally and are represented in corporate and private collections. He is the author of three popular books on landscape painting: "Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice (Watson-Guptill, 2009), with 70,000 copies in print; "The Landscape Painter's Workbook: Essential Studies in Shape, Composition, and Color" (Rockport Publishers, 2022), which has been the #1 selling book on landscape in the nation; and "New Lessons in Landscape Painting: Key Concepts and Exercises in Color and Composition" (Rockport Publishers, 2026). Mitchell leads painting workshops in the U.S. and has offered plein air adventures in Italy. He is also a master mentor with the online mentoring community Mastrius. He has lectured on Impressionism and landscape painting at the Seattle Art Museum and has written for International Artist and Artists & Illustrators magazines. Mitchell also hosts a popular painting blog, which hold the #11 spot on Feedspot.com's "90 Best Painting Blogs to Follow in 2026." He is a Signature member in both the Pastel Society of America and the Northwest Pastel Society.
Are we bound to the colors offered by the photo, or can we make the color in our paintings our own?
Overcast and sunny subjects will present values and colors differently. Know the differences and what to look for.
How can you reduce nature’s vastness and complexity into more visually concise and simplified shapes? With limited values.
As we continue to grow as colorists, we learn the lessons of observational color and gradually become more intuitive.
Similar compositions in oil and pastel show how changing one’s medium can create a shift in visual expression.
Sometimes the answers to painting problems come months or years after a painting is supposedly “finished.”
A handy “notan” app that plays with the distribution of shapes and values, with 2, 3 and 4-level options.
Color can do magical things when we understand the role values play in bringing out color identity.
What are the requirements and challenges of working on a long-term painting series?
Discover the power of variation with paintings by four master composers and a demonstration on intervals.