Janhendrik Dolsma (1950) is an expert painter of clouds, beaches, dunes and of course the ocean. On his RU-vid channel he shares a lifetime of painting experience in short tutorial videos with an emphasis on painting clouds. His full length tutorials (over 60 minutes) have found their way to buyers all over the world. Dolsma participated in exhibitions in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Taiwan, Spain, Belgium and the USA.
Just like the touch of light on the simple beach pole is a perfect surprise, so are your occasional bits of self-deprecating humor. Thank you for your well-articulated guidance on tricky subject matter. I am soaking it all in and, with practice of these techniques, I hope to add an enlivened layer to my landscape work. Cheers.
Hello! Is this for a beginner (who has never painted) as well? I so miss the skies in San Diego and am now on the east coast and have fallen in love with paintings of clouds in the sky and am now wondering if I could create something like it myself.
The full length video (downloadable at www.paintngskie.com/video) explains in 3 steps how to use this technique, including the use of a painting medium and transferring the reference photo to your board. Of course that's no guarantee that the results will immediately be satisfactory, but I'm quite sure you'll learn a lot!
I love that you show how to change or correct something. And I love that you show the colors in the mix that you are using. Such a helpful tutorial. I am going to have to get out my sunset photos and try my hand. Greetings from Santa Fe, New Mexico! - Ann
I think it works. The colours work adn the overall composition is very striking. Using a new technique always takes time to adjust to. Understandably you had to fuss around a lot. The second time around that time would be reduced, I think until you adust to the new regime.
You're absolutely right, you have to adjust to a new approach. One of the tings I'd probably change is the color of the acrylic base layer. It'll probably work better on a lighter blue.
Thank you for your video. I am feeling better now I know that blue on blue is not easy even for a master painter as yourself. I wil now keep on trying to fix the blues on my large painting till I get it done 😊🎉
Thanks, Carmen! Good to know my video has been helpful. If you keep trying I’m sure you’ll get your large painting done. Though sometimes it can be helpful to put your painting face to the wall for a week or so.
Yes, that is certainly possible, but there are 2 things you need to take into account. The larger canvases in particular will flap like a sail in the wind (due to the force with which you hit the canvas). That can be annoying. Secondly, over time you can see the stretcher bars emerge in relief because the canvas is repeatedly pressed against them by the movement of the stipple brush. These are the reasons why I made the switch to working on board.
Thank you! The paper I use is 300 gas Arches oil paper. I don't mount my paper to the substrate myself anymore, my frame maker does. She uses 6 mm MDF, but I'm not sure which adhesive she uses. I used to do it with wood adhesive.
It's nice to know that someone of your artistic caliber will alter the reference photo. I do this all the time, but in my case it's to make the painting easier 😆
I adapt my reference photos for different reasons, one of which still is (don't tell anyone) to make the painting easier. For the rest it's mostly compositional changes.
Thank you, Marina! If you're interested in the painting process from start to finish, you could download one of my full length tutorials at www.paintngskies.com/video. Or you could support me on Patreon and get access to all my tutorials (www.patreon.com/paintingskies).
This particular painting was compiled from a series of pictures I took a few years back on one of the Dutch Wadden Sea islands. I create digital photo collages in Photoshop, which I use as a starting point for my paintings.
Will keep it in mind! Filming while painting is in itself a challenge, mostly because you want the viewer to have a good look at what you're doing. That often means painting from a position on the side instead of the regular frontal position. If I'm going to film the entire process I have to think of a way to shoot the process and at the same time maintain a frontal position. Otherwise it'll be a bit tiring. Any ideas?
Thank you, Laura! The challenge was partly caused by the fact that the Sevres Blue I used is a relatively dark blue. Next time I'll start with a much lighter blue.
Really great video... thankyou! I learnt a lot! ILuv your paintings! recently did 2 oil studies with an ultramarine first layer smudged on very roughly with a cloth. Originally I intended to do night scenes with trees and starry sky. But instead, I painted springtime day scenes of wild ponies on the mountain near where i live. The ultramarine underlayer surprisingly acted as a unusual earthing base, allowing the spring colours of the yellow and pink grasses on the mountain to glow through, but also surprisingly they look very natural. The um blue also served as a great background colour for the ponies and irish cob horse 🙂
That's quite surprising! Never would've thought it would work like that. But in hindsight there's some logic to it: the warm colors of the landscape stood out even more against the blue background. Yet another reason to keep experimenting!
Thank you so much your videos inspire me so much, your narration is informative and you method of delivery so clear. I also love the clips of your cat its gorgeous
Burnt Sienna is an amazing colour. It seems to go with any scene. It can be the sun in clouds, or mixed with blue, the shadows. It can be the colour of rust, or an old barn, or of a field of grain, or dead grasses poking out though snow, skin tones, rocks, sand...it seems endless. I like how you let its warmth glow in the clouds here. Very nice!
Yes, Burnt Sienna is a very versatile color. Beside its use in an underpainting it works great in color mixes, when you need a bit of warmth. Glad you like it, Mark!
On the subject of blue, and slightly off topic, I heard the other day that the ancient Greeks had no word for blue...It was just another shade of green to them. Maybe they were all colour blind? You know Janhendrik, Ive always been into ancient cultures, like North American natives, and sometimes depict them in a scene to add human activity while the colours of teepees, clothing etc are all natural and blend with the scene...Sometimes Ive looked at your work and imagined ancient Europeans perhaps fishing, or gathering clams on a beach. Have you ever though about doing something like that?
That's quite interesting, I never heard that story. Maybe because blue was the background color for everything in their life. The blue Mediterranean, the sky. Like a fish doesn't know he's a water creature. No, however interesting an idea, I never considered that. I deliberately leave out the human figure, because light and space are what I want my work to be about. Nevertheless, I'd be curious to see you do a painting like that...
I love it! Your work is wonderful. I often paint blue 1 layer for my paintings, and find that I like it better when it is light blue or muted gray blue/ And sometimes paint green underpainting (for sky too) interestingly It worked (but I did it, like only 3-4 times)
I agree, it works better to use a light blue as an underpainting. Instead of constantly having to tone down the blue, you can build on it. I never tried green as an underpainting. What was it like?
@@PaintingSkies1 Oh, it was cold green, close to turquoise, it was usually for labdscape where two thirds are forests and fields and the sky is usually foggy or cloudy
Thank you! It was an interesting, or should I say surprising experience. For instance, I wonder why the Indigo looked a lot like Ultramarine. Maybe it's because the Sevres Blue is a relatively cold blue, which makes the Indigo seem like a warm color.
