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Gábor Svagrik
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Notes from the easel
A closer look.
146 posts on seeing, painting, and the practice of making art.
Values and light
Color and mixing
Painting rocks
Skies and atmosphere
Composition and design
Painting trees
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From the studio
Are You a Slow or Fast Painter? Why Speed Matters When Painting from Life
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From the studio
Pre-Mixing Colors vs. Mixing as You Go: Which Is Better?
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From the studio
Painting Big Won't Fix Weak Fundamentals — Here's What Will
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From the studio
Why Your Painting Feels Flat: It's Value, Not Color
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From the studio
How to Make Fall Landscape Colors Pop in Painting
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From the studio
Using Texture in Oil Painting: When and How to Explore It
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From the studio
Why Alone Time Is the Key to Improving Your Art
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From the studio
How to Work the Whole Canvas When Painting (Instead of Just One Area)
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From the studio
Fear as a Motivator in Painting and Creative Work
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From the studio
Should You Focus on Brushwork? It Depends on Your Skill Level
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From the studio
Learning Shapes Is the Key to Better Drawing
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From the studio
Why Painting Outdoors Still Matters
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From the studio
Consistency Beats Talent: How to Finally See Progress in Your Paintings
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From the studio
Values Can Trick our Eyes
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From the studio
A Simpler Way to See Natural Forms
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From the studio
Finding Inspiration: A Guide for Artists
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From the studio
The Difference Between Reference Photos and Plein Air Painting
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From the studio
Bring Energy to Your Paintings!
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From the studio
Are You Over-Explaining?
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From the studio
How Much Does Brush Work Matter?
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From the studio
Are Distant Shadows Always Lighter?
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From the studio
Know Your Limitations
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From the studio
Higher Quality Paintings
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From the studio
Best Cameras for Landscape Painters
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From the studio
What Are You "Celebrating"?
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From the studio
Art Has No End Point
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From the studio
Two (Common) Mistakes Painters Make
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From the studio
Committing to Fewer Instructors
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From the studio
Knowing Your Subject
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From the studio
Choosing a Frame
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From the studio
Can Too Much Information Hurt Our Creative Process?
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From the studio
Creating a Cool Red
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From the studio
Painting in a New Space?
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From the studio
Muted Colors, Softer Edges
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From the studio
My Favorite Paper for Drawing
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From the studio
Mixing Raw Umber
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From the studio
Photos Aren't Bad (But...)
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From the studio
Are Drawing and Painting the Same?
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Video & notes
How to Simplify a Tree
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From the studio
Is Outdoor Painting Better?
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Video & notes
What to Look for Before You Begin
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From the studio
Simplifying Your Paintings
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From the studio
Natural vs. Synthetic Brushes
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From the studio
Using Pastels like Paint
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From the studio
H and B Pencils
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From the studio
Painting from Life
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From the studio
Clean Off Your Brushes!
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From the studio
Intentional Critique
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Video & notes
Reflections on Boats
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From the studio
Getting Attached to Your Paintings
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From the studio
Should You Repeat a Painting?
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From the studio
North Light: Essential for Landscape Painters?
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From the studio
Creating Mood
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From the studio
Creating a Warm or Cool Green
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From the studio
My Take on Flat Brushes
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From the studio
Studio or Outdoors?
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From the studio
Summer Tips
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From the studio
Using Vine Charcoal
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From the studio
Using Design Aids
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Video & notes
Shadow Source
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From the studio
Artificial Vs. Natural Light
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Video & notes
Painting Large vs Small
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From the studio
Using a Mirror in Your Studio
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From the studio
Which Yellow Should I Use?
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From the studio
Let's Talk Confidence!
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Video & notes
Fritz Thaulow
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From the studio
To Use Black or Not
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From the studio
Why is Failure a Good Thing?
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From the studio
Utilizing Gray's in Your Work
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From the studio
Line Direction
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From the studio
Using Glass as Your Palette
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From the studio
Draw Before You Paint
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From the studio
Paint Better Values
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From the studio
How to Paint Reflected Light (On Rocks)
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From the studio
Tips for Painting Water
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From the studio
Spend Time on Design
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From the studio
Painting Tree Edges
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From the studio
3 Keys to a Successful Painting
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From the studio
Hard Work Beats Talent
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From the studio
Are You Consistent?
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From the studio
Painting From a Monitor (and Alternatives!)
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Video & notes
Seeing Values and Shapes First
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Video & notes
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VII
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Video & notes
Shadow Follows Form
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Video & notes
Value first Color Second
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Video & notes
Looking at Design Options
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Video & notes
Record Snow Fall
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Video & notes
The Challenges of Snow
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Video & notes
Painting on an Overcast Day
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Video & notes
Outdoor Adventure
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Video & notes
How to Make Objects Recede
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Video & notes
Less is More
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Video & notes
How to Move Objects
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Video & notes
Why We Need To Design
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Video & notes
How to use iPad as a monitor for artists
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Video & notes
Why you need to be consistent!
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From the studio
Trust the Process
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Video & notes
Planes of the Shape
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Video & notes
How to Paint Fleeting Moments
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Video & notes
When to Push Darks in a Painting
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Video & notes
How to Paint the Sky - Value & Color
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Video & notes
How To Take Better Photo References
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Video & notes
Awesome Gadget for Artists
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Video & notes
How To Use Paper Pad For Studies
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Video & notes
Overlapping Planes and Why Use Them
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Video & notes
Why Have a Dominant Shape
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Video & notes
How to Simplify Busy Scenes
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Video & notes
How to Start Your Painting
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Video & notes
Why You Need to Simplify
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Video & notes
The Importance of Values
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Video & notes
Why Values in Mountains Have to Be Close
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Video & notes
Say More With Less
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Video & notes
Looking for Design Options
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Video & notes
Why You Should Shift Things Around
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Video & notes
Why You Should Pay Attention to Patterns
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From the studio
Hardwork vs Talent
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From the studio
2 Ways to Keep Your Colors Clean
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Video & notes
How Much Detail Is Too Much?
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From the studio
How to handle commissions
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Video & notes
[video] How to paint loose
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Video & notes
How to Get Around Detail
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Video & notes
How to Keep [Values] Close
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Video & notes
Paint Through Objects part 2
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Video & notes
Paint Through Objects, Part 1
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Video & notes
[ Design ] How much sky to leave in
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Video & notes
Pick a Dominant Shape
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Video & notes
Brushwork and its importance in the visual journey
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Video & notes
Use [shapes] to strengthen your design
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Video & notes
Adding the Right Value Relationships
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Video & notes
How to Add Transitional Areas to Your Paintings
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Video & notes
Balance of Shapes
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Video & notes
Keeping [ Detail ] to a minimum
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Video & notes
Abstract Shapes
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Video & notes
Surround Your Subject with Values
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Video & notes
How to Make Green Recede
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Video & notes
How to use your palette knife with wet paint
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Video & notes
How To Unify Shapes
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Video & notes
How Failure Can Be a Good Thing
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Video & notes
How to paint better smoke and steam
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Video & notes
Spatial Perspective
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Video & notes
Redesign
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Video & notes
Why does your painting look flat
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From the studio
Two of my favorite drawing tools
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From the studio
How I layer oil paint
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Video & notes
Horizontal Plane
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Video & notes
Tips for Outdoor Gear
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![[video] How to paint loose](/assets/2e3866ae7d035eedba68.webp)
![How to Keep [Values] Close](/assets/7539fb8dd6467653b26a.webp)
![[ Design ] How much sky to leave in](/assets/a207424f6d19ec2263f5.webp)
![Use [shapes] to strengthen your design](/assets/f263c21ee561fd1c6fbf.webp)
![Keeping [ Detail ] to a minimum](/assets/1ffa88e930aa75e0d06c.webp)
