(soft jazzy music) - Hi, I'm glad you could join us today. I thought today we'd just
do a fantastic little scene that I think you'll enjoy. So let's start out and have them run all the colors across the screen that you need to paint along with us. While they're doing that, let me show you what I got up here. Have my plain old 18 by 24 inch double-primed canvas. And today, I've just
covered the entire canvas with a little thin coat of liquid white. That's really all we have on there, just little liquid white. And I thought maybe today we'd do a little winter scene. Now personally, I like winter
scenes that are quite warm, and I have a tendency
to paint 'em that way, but I've got a lot of
letters from people saying, "Hey I like the ones that are very cold." So I want to show you
how do to a scene that's very, very (phew) cold. You may have to put your coat
on before this one's over. So let's just have some fun today. Let's start out with a small amount of phthalo blue. Just a little bit. I'm gonna use a very limited pallet today. By that, all I mean is just
very few colors to do this, mostly just blue, black, and white. Now then, let's just take a
little bit of this phthalo blue, and we'll just start in like this, making little, little X's, little criss-cross. But I'm gonna start and work
outwards so it gets larger. 'Bout like that. I like phthalo blue. It's a very warm blue. Probably has a little green in it. It's a very nice blue, though. Now, we have a little blue
circle up here in the sky. Let's take, without
even cleaning the brush, and I'm gonna go into Prussian blue. And Prussian blue is
many, many times stronger. It's a very dark, strong, rich blue. Just load a little color in that. And we'll go right up in here. Still using the little
criss-cross strokes. Something about like that. Little touch more. There. And then I'll just bring it right down into the phthalo blue, just let 'em sort of
blend together like so. We'll come back and blend it
a little more in a minute. There. But basically, that's
all we're looking for. But the paint goes on very easily because we have the liquid white on here. It just blends right on here. If we were working on a dry canvas, you'd probably be in agony city by now. Probably be upset with me. And we want this to work for you. I'm gonna take some Prussian
blue and some black. Each layer, as we go away
from the lightest area, is getting darker and darker. Darker and darker. There we go. This is Prussian blue and midnight black. There. And, out here on the very
end, we'll just go into black. There. There is a little blue on the brush so it'll mix with the
black that we put on there. Okay. Shoot, we just about have- we might as well just
fill the whole canvas up, it doesn't matter. If we're gonna do a little winter picture, you need this blue that
ends up down in the snow. We'll just turn into shadows, it's okay. We don't worry about it. Now, the most fun part
of the whole technique. That's washing the brush. There we go. Shake off the excess. (laughter) And there we are. Now, let's take the old two-inch brush, and I want to take one corner, just one corner, and go into a little
bit of titanium white. That's a beautiful close-up there, but you can see just one
corner is hitting the paint. Okay, let's go back up here. Now decide where your light source is, and in my painting, I think
it's gonna be right here. In your world, you may
want it somewhere else. But take that one corner, that one corner that has the paint on it and start around, going around. ♫ Around and around and around we go ♫ There we are, see? That's all there is to it. And just begin working it outward. You want this to be the
lightest, brightest part of the painting. There. And you can do this as
many times as you want. But if you get your brush
contaminated with blue, I would suggest that you clean your brush before you go back into the white. There we are. I'm gonna clean the brush
and do it one more time. Just to get a little bit brighter. Actually, I was just looking for an excuse to clean the brush. One more time, right
here, and work outward. There we go. All right. As I say, you can do this several times to achieve a desired lightness. Now then, we can just blend the
rest of the canvas together. Just blend it til you can't tell where one color stops and
the next color starts. It can be very smooth. And you can have a graduation of color, quite dark down to almost pure white. All right, and then very lightly, three hairs and some air, I'll just blend all the way across. Just to take out the little
brush marks and everything and bring it all together. There. Okay. And that's about all I'm
gonna do for that little sky. Let's have some fun. I'm gonna take a little bit of the blue and some white, mix it together. I want to make a light blue. That's pretty good, nice little phthalo, a little Prussian and little white, okay? And clean off the old knife. We just wipe the knife on a paper towel. Hands wiped on the pants. (laughter) There you go. I'm gonna take the fan brush, put a little bit of- put
some more white in there. Put a little bit on the bristles. I don't need a lot of paint. But it's very light. In fact, it's almost the color of the sky. And we can hold it up here and check. It may not be- this may be- Well, that's gotta be a little darker or you're not gonna see it. But just sort of test it. That's good there. And maybe back in here,
there's a little hill. Once again, I want this
almost the color of the sky so you really have to-
you have to sort of study to even find it. This is gonna end up being just the indication of little
hills that live far away. Way back in the distance. And we can take a two-inch brush, grab that and just gently pull it. Very gently. And just blend it together. Blend it together. As I say, I want that to be far away. Quiet, little devil. There. Very tranquil, serene. There. Just an indication of something going on back there. Brushed it too slow. Let's get the old two-inch brush here. I'm gonna take a little
bit of the phthalo blue, ah, we'll add a little Prussian blue, too. Phthalo and Prussian, both. Now, tap the brush, push it, get a little bit on the- right
on the end of the bristles. Let's go up in here. Now maybe, see if that's a little darker. Yep. Each one of these little foothills that we put in here, I want 'em to get a little darker. Foothills, little mountains, whatever. Maybe it goes all the way up to there. Add a little more color to my brush. All the way up, and
maybe it goes over here. I don't know, it's up to you. You make these big decisions
for all these little things that live in your world. There. Now I'm gonna take and lift upward. Just lift it straight up, so it looks like little trees
that live far, far away. Way back in the distance somewhere. We don't know where they are. Too far away. There. Lift upward. There. It's unbelievable that you can make such delicate looking little things with a brush this big, but you really can. Maybe something comes down,
right on down through here. Just let your imagination go. It'll take you anywhere
that you want to be. Anywhere that you want to be. Just all kinds of little things that grow down the side of the hill. There. This is a very simple little painting. You should have no problem with it. If you're just beginning
to learn this technique, this is one that you can do. It's very easy, and it uses very few colors. Very, very few colors. All right, once again, lift up. Make sure these little lines go straight up or it'll look like the wind's blowing about a million miles
and hour in your world and all the trees have
been blown over nearly. So make sure that goes straight up. Something like so. Okay. But isn't that a simple, simple way of making a very effective little hill that you can see all the little things growing down on? Mm, works. It's what's so great about
this technique, it works. Maybe over here, it's a little- see? Just lift upward. Make all kind of little do-ers. Wherever you want 'em. Let's take us a fan brush, little bit of titanium white. We said this was winter, so we'll put a little snow in there. Just load some white. Right on the brush, okay? Now, you have to start
making some decisions. Maybe there's a little bit of snow laying back in here. And we want this to indicate that it just sort of climbs right up the side of the mountain there. That it just disappears. We don't know where it goes back here. Don't know that we even care. Don't know that we even care. There. See, but just sort of pay
attention to the angles and how they flow in your world. All right. See all that blue color
that was under there? It doesn't matter. It now comes out to be beautiful shadows. It's one of those happy accidents. We like those. There. Wherever you want this to go. Already, it looks like you
could take your dog sledding and just travel way back in there. Or your snow machine,
or whatever you have. I lived in Alaska a long time, so I'm used to people having dog sleds. That's still a big sport in
Fairbanks, where I lived. And they had big dogsled
races up there every year, right in the middle of town. Sometimes they have the Iditarod, which is I think about
a 1500 mile dog race. Boy that's- that takes
a tough person. (phew) And I think it's been won by
a lady the last few years. Mm, okay. Let's go back to our little fan brush that had the blue on it. I'm gonna take some white and some blue, since that's all I have is white and blue, basically. I'm gonna throw a little black in it, too. This painting is really more
of an exercise in values. The intensity of the color. Let me wipe off the knife. There. We'll load a little of
that on the fan brush and maybe, maybe, maybe, in our world here- Okay, we'll just check out your bravery. Right in front of this
mountain, maybe there lives- maybe a little stand of trees. Or a little grouping of trees. There. 'Bout like that. Gonna just let 'em wander down the side. We don't know where they go. Don't know that we even care. Doesn't matter. We'll figure that out next. Right now, we just want
to drop something in. There, see? Maybe we just go down here and just let 'em sort of disappear
into teeny little trees. Back up in here, I don't know where they'll go. But it doesn't matter at this point. Really doesn't matter. Now, take a two-inch brush, I'm gonna tap that just a little. I want the base of these trees to be a little softer than the top. So all I'm gonna do is just tap, and then lift upward, like that. Then go back, smooth our snow out. See how easy that is? And we're back in business. And back to my little fan brush. We'll have some snow
going right up in here. Just sort of let it creep right up to the base of these trees. So it looks like there's
a little incline there, little hill. There. Something about like that. We don't know. Don't know that we care right now. We're just putting in
little angles and stuff, and then we'll begin to look at 'em, and see what we have. Back to the fan brush, it has the tree color on it, and maybe there's some happy little bushes that live right in there. Just touch, lift upward. Make it look like little, little grassy areas back in there. Here and there, and there and here, wherever you want 'em. All right. Maybe in our world, get the small knife. I'll just use some of that same blue color that we were using. Maybe in our world- back in here, maybe there's a little, well, it could be a little- might be a little river
or something back in here. Just take very gently. It's far away. Far away, just laying
some basic shapes here. Then we'll come back and blend it, and I'm just laying it right on top. Then, we can take our two-inch brush and very gently blend this. It'll smooth it all out. There. But see, it looks like it
goes back a million miles, and the snow is blowing over it. Mm, have to put a little obstacle there so if they're gonna have a dog race, it won't be too easy. All right. Now, need something right here. So we'll just drop in. Maybe there's another
little stand of trees far back here. Lift up. I'm lifting these a little higher than I lifted the ones above it, because to my mind, they're
a little closer to me. But just a little higher. There. See there? Back to our fan brush
with the white on it. And we can clean the
base of it up a little. All right. Now, let's take- we'll take our colors, since we have such a large selection, some phthalo blue, some Prussian blue, and some black and a little bit of white. It doesn't matter. But there is a little white in there. And of course it's predominantly blue. Predominantly blue. Let me grab another fan brush. I have several going here, so I don't have to spend all my time just washing fan brushes. There. You know, when you're painting,
a lot of times it pays in each brush to have two of each, so you can have one for dark color and one for light. Saves you from having to
wash the brush continually. Use just the corner of the brush here, just the corner, and begin working down. I think we'll pop in a little- a little evergreen tree
that lives right here. Right there. Gotta cover up that little area so we'll just drop him in. There. And, you know me. I think everybody deserves a friend. Gotta have a friend, there. That's one thing painting has brought me, that I never suspected
when I first started, is a multitude of the
most wonderful friends in the entire world. I've met people all over the country. Some of them have turned
out to be lifelong friends. But they're all fantastic. People from every walk of life seem to enjoy painting. Isn't that nice? We travel around the country doing demonstrations and putting on shows. We've had the opportunity to meet people, as I say, from basically
every walk of life, to some of the biggest
celebrities in the country. And you know what? They all share a love of painting. It makes no difference. There. In fact, just the other day, to me, one of the greatest celebrities in the country and western music industry, Mr. Hank Snow, I met him through painting,
and we remained friends to this day. And I just think he's
one of the neatest people that I've ever met, whether he was a celebrity or not. He's just a nice man. All right, I'm gonna take a little bit of phthalo blue, a little white, I'm gonna be right back, I'm gonna get a little touch
of the liquid white, too, just to thin the color down. 'Cause you know our golden rule: thin paint stick to a thick paint. Now we have a much thinner paint, so it'll stick right over
the top of this thick paint, and let's just use that to indicate some highlights. I don't want too many. Don't want too many. There. And when you're doing yours, you decide how many highlights
you want on your tree. Maybe you want 'em brighter, maybe you want to leave 'em darker. Personally, I like to
leave evergreen trees pretty dark. To me, they look darker than most trees. There. And since we're only working with values in this painting, basically, we need the contrast. There. Back to my little fan brush that has the white on it. And maybe right there. Be brave. Shoot, we'll just drop right in there. Bring that right up. Something like that. And just smooth that out. You could really put this snow in with a two-inch brush. It'd go in just as well. I just thought today we'd use the old fan brush. Doesn't matter. Does not matter. Any way that you can apply it. The only rule that I respect in painting is that painting make you happy, and that you enjoy what you're doing. Other than that, it's up to you. Up to you. Any way you can create
an effect that you want to your satisfaction, has to be wonderful. Has to be. See, I'm just cleaning
up the base of that. Sometimes you can take a
little of the shadow color, and you can just put all kinds of little- maybe there's a little stone that lives under there somewhere. Take your big brush, blend him out, see? That big brush just
zips right along there. Let me wipe off some of that paint. There. Something about like- I know what we need. If you've painted with me before, you know what's coming. Bob's got to have his big tree in here. I like big trees. I lived in Alaska for a long time, and everything's big there. Same color. That same blues. But this time, darker. Has very little white in it. You ready? Okay, here's your bravery test. Don't put it right in the center. That bothers the eye. Put it to one side or
the other a little bit. I've chosen to go a little
bit to the left side. But in your world, you may want to go to the right or wherever. Just, I'd recommend not
putting it dead in the center. There. (phew) I said big tree, here he comes. Big old tree. Great, big tree. If you have trouble making the paint stick as you come down over all this white, add a little paint thinner. I might do that myself. Just dip the brush into
a little paint thinner, then go through the paint. But let me repeat the word "little." You don't need much. Don't need much. Keep your paints as firm and dry as you possibly can. Okay, yeah, he needs a friend, too. Just a little friend. There. These trees just live
right in your fan brush. All you gotta do is just
sort of shake 'em out. They're in there. They're in there. Now, then. I'm going back to my brush
that has the phthalo blue, the liquid white, and a
little titanium white on it. Remember, the liquid white's in there only to thin the paint. Only to thin the color. Isn't it nice, though? Let's just come in here and drop in a few happy little highlights, wherever you want 'em. There. This little tree's gotta have some, too. Just 'cause he's small doesn't mean he wants to be left out. He's got the same needs and
desires as the big tree, just like we do. There. Okay, just sort of bring
that all together down here. Just running back and forth
between my fan brushes, maybe doop-doop, just pop it up. Maybe there's some
little bushy things that live right in there, come out. Wherever. Wherever. Wherever, see? You just touch it, lift up. Just touch and lift up. There's one over here. I'm sorry to jump around so much. I just keep seeing things. Drives that mean old
director crazy, though, when I do that. But it's good for her. Keeps her on her toes. There. 'Bout like that. See, and you just sort of
work these things together. And it gives the indication
of a big old tree sittin' out here overlooking
a little river that, maybe it's froze up for the winter. Way back over there somewhere. And that's about all you need. Shoot. I think we got a finished painting. Take a little paint thinner. I put a little red out here
just for the signature. And let's sign this little rascal, maybe right here. Hope you've enjoyed this one. If you'll give it a try, it'll give you a lot of experience using the equipment and
building confidence. And that's what it's all about. So until next time, I'd like to wish you happy painting, and God bless, my friend. (mellow guitar music)
