Barry John Raybould Studio

Simplify A Complex Scene Using Two Simple Techniques
In order to emphasise the main idea in your painting, you need to simplify all the other areas. Often, what you take out of your painting is more important than what you leave in. Here are some examples. Here are two easy ways to do that:

How To Simplify A Complex Scene Using Two Simple Techniques - Virtual Art Academy In order to emphasize the main idea in your painting, you need to simplify all the other areas. Often, what you take out of your painting is more important than what you leave in. Here are some examples.

Green is gorgeous and everywhere.
I believe green is one of the most wonderful colors, but have you ever wondered what colors make green? I often read that greens are difficult, but maybe this depends on your perspective. From where I sit there are a great variety of them, ranging from lighter, fresher spring greens, to deeper summer shades, to variations as they turn more autumnal. It’s all about where, when, and how you see things.
My article will go a long way in your understanding about what colors make green at different times of the year, and in different lighting conditions, and in different areas of your painting to create depth of perspective. I also provide guidelines for creating your own luscious greens.

Painting for Beginners: How to Mix a Fresh Green There is only one thing you need to know to create virbrant greens. Read on to learn the secret.

I put a lot of emphasis on abstract design in my work, even though it might seem to be a representational painting. An abstract design is much more interesting if it incorporates point, line, and mass shapes in its design.
I often use brushwork expressively to represent different objects in a shorthand way. If you do this effectively, you can incorporate the point, line and mass shapes into your compositions just by using brushwork, and so gives your painting a more abstract design to make your painting much more interesting to look at. Read my blog to learn more.
https://www.virtualartacademy.com/abstract-design/

I love the colors of geraniums against the blues of the distant landscapes. This is a painting I did on the terrace of my studio in Tuscany, Italy. I bought some red violet geraniums from a local garden shop, and it seemed they were the perfect accent color for the distant Ligurian hills I can see from my studio.

I found some beautiful wild flowers in my garden, put them in a jar until I could find a vase, and placed them on an outside table. I couldn't resist the colors, shadows and lights, so I painted them as they were.

One of the secrets to great color harmony is how you organize your palette. Laying out your palette might seem simple, but many beginners do not do this in the right way. It is important to have a logical organization and flow to the sequence of colors on your palette. If you organize your palette logically, you will find color mixing much easier and you will end up with much more beautiful color in your paintings. This is how.

Double Split Complementary Color Harmonies - Virtual Art Academy Learning to master complementary color harmonies can result in some incredibly beautiful paintings. One of the most beautiful I have discovered is the double

I always love the contrast between the colors of the geraniums on my terrace and the blue mountains of the Ligurian hills across the valley. It's been a glorious spring/early summer.

Layout Your Palette Logically For Good Color Harmony - Oil Paint Pallet Layout Creating good color harmony depends a lot on how you organize your palette. Learn to organize oil paint pallet layout logically with Virtual Art Academy.

3 Key Tips For Using Atmospheric Perspective to Create Mood Here I show you the history of atmospheric perspective in art, its importance, and how to create emotion in your paintings using atmospheric and aerial perspective.

I’ve just released an exciting new upgrade to my online art school, the Virtual Art Academy. You can now learn about how the masters created great artwork on an app for your smart phone or tablet in just 15 minutes a week. Or you can follow a systematic sequential learning path that will fill in all the gaps in your own art education that may be holding you back. This video reveals how it all works:

W01 Quick Start.mp4 An overview of how to use the Virtual Art Academy Online Campus to learn how to paint, whether you only have 15 minutes a week, or one or may days a week to devote…

Montenegro 11x14" oil on board. Beautiful afternoon today

I had a great week at Art in the Open 2022 in Wexford, Ireland. The event is really well organized and very professionally done, and I met lots of nice people.

It was also inspiring to paint a completely different scenery - and many thanks to the organizers for some great locations. Here's a couple of my pieces from the week.

Morocco Episode 2: Marrakesh Rooftops
The essence of painting is making patterns, and unequal space division is the most important principle you need to understand when you design a pattern.

Morocco Episode 2: Marrakesh Rooftops - Virtual Art Academy The essence of painting is making patterns, and unequal space division is the most important principle you need to understand when you design a

Morocco Episode 1: Marrakesh Alleyway - Virtual Art Academy Give your work a freshness and a sense of visual abstraction. Watch this quick video segment of me painting in Morocco and read the blog post below for tips

Cat No 1207 Beijing Still Life, 15.5cm x 15.5cm, Oil on Linen

Curved shapes are important in many paintings, not only in paintings with figures in them, but also if you are trying to capture the gesture of a particular tree, an archway on a bridge, or a vase.

Many drawing books concentrate on teaching you to draw by following the outline of a curved shape as accurately as you can. This technique is called contour drawing. However there is a major a major problem with this technique — it is impossible for most people to do this accurately.

Even after many years of practice drawing accurate curves directly and getting them in the correct proportion at the same time is extremely difficult. For most people, including me, it is an impossible task.

But luckily there is a much easier way for how to draw curves accurately. It is called the straight line approximation technique.

Read more about it here:
https://www.virtualartacademy.com/how-to-draw-curves-accurately-the-one-big-secre

While I completed this painting on one of my plein air painting trips in Montenegro I made a quick video of it. Thinking about the abstract character of the scene before you paint makes a big difference to how it turns out. You might find it interesting how I explored the abstract ideas that came to me in this particular scene.
You can watch my video here:
https://www.virtualartacademy.com/on-the-mountain-montenegro

Many students ask if direct sunlight damages oil paintings, or if they can put their oil paintings out in the sun to make them dry more quickly. Whilst you can do this, there are good reasons to avoid it.
Read my blog to discover what they are:
https://www.virtualartacademy.com/does-direct-sunlight-damage-oil-paintings/

I did this painting above Ratko’s art residence one evening. Gluhi Do is a village situated in the region of Crmnica, which is considered to be one of the most fertile regions of Montenegro, with vineyards everywhere.
Read this blog post if you would like to know more about my thinking behind this painting. I give some important tips on the use of warm/cool.
https://www.virtualartacademy.com/atmospheric-perspective-gluhi-do/

I still have a two places left on my plein air painting workshop in Tuscany. Come and join us, and paint the beautiful wildflowers of spring and enjoy the Italian life for a week. Register here: https://www.virtualartacademy.com/tuscany-painting-workshop/

Many students ask if direct sunlight damages oil paintings, or if they can put their oil paintings out in the sun to make them dry more quickly. Whilst you can do this, there are good reasons to avoid it.
Read my blog to discover the reasons why you should not leave your paintings to dry in the sun.
https://www.virtualartacademy.com/does-direct-sunlight-damage-oil-paintings/

Does direct sunlight damage oil paintings? Many students ask if direct sunlight damages oil paintings, or if they can put their oil paintings out in the sun to make them dry more quickly. Whilst you

Very proud of Ananthi, one of my beginner Virtual Art Academy students, who in just four weeks, went from the drawing on the left to the one on the right.

Nobody should ever say they will never be able to draw! You can all do it!

But I must add, she worked very hard. It doesn't come without a lot of effort.