Pushing Against Your (Artistic) Comfort Zone 

Thank you for letting me know. We will definitely do the Zakharov copy for the next video. All the best.

Yes, please do more master copy paintings. I am a visual learner and you're a great teacher. It's very helpful to see how you mix colors, etc. Thank you so much.

I would love to see the master copy exercise. I think we don’t do this often enough and is a great learning tool.

I've been "careful" all my life. Getting close to my 8th decade. It's time to cut loose, at least in my painting endeavors! Can't wait to see more of the Zakharov style.

Hi Ian. That was a great exercise in pushing your comfort zone. I would like to see you doing the Zakharov painting for next month. Great idea!

To be honest, despite all the efforts, Ian's style is clearly seen.

Hi Ian, so interesting to see more of the painter you mentioned before in Mastering Composition community. I had never heard of him before, so very nice learning something about a new painter! Happy summer!

Hi Ian. Pushing our comfort zones is a great way to expand our horizons. Thanks for exposing us to this BOLD master. Your explanations enable us to appreciate his work even more.

I love the boldness in this piece. Deliberate. Not fussy. Beautiful color shifts, A great demo and shows more passion than some previous paintings, Why is it we cannot just stop when we have the gesture of things? ie that wall! Thanks for the video. I want to watch the master copy utube when it is available. Thanks for all you do to encourage and teach us.

Yes please - I would love to watch this unfold. Thank you Ian!

You have definitely inspired me to move out of my comfort zone and experiment. This can be especially challenging in watercolors where any kind of overworking can quickly turn to mud. Your generosity in sharing your inspiring artistic journey is appreciated by us all. I look forward to watching the master copy demo. Have a wonderful summer!

Yes! Let's do the master copy. The boldness makes composition come alive.

Love the bold brush marks and would like to see a demo of the Zakharov copy.

This is the first time I've ever seen Fedor Zackharov's work and it blew me away! He's now my favourite painter of all time!

Yes, please do the master copy of Zahkarov. Loved the results of your bolder style. It’s comforting to see that as a master artist you sometimes ‘muddle’ with parts of a painting. You are a wonderful , inspiring teacher and I have learned so much from you. Thank you.

Yes I’m looking forward to seeing more of this style because I am fast when I paint and hate to fiddle 😜

Very successful painting 🎨🖼 Thanks for doing this!

Yes! Yes! Yes! I would love to see you do the Master Copy of the Zakharov painting! Thank you so much for all you do for all of us…. God bless you and Anne! 👩‍🎨👏👏👏

I would love to see the master copy demo. Really enjoyed watching you paint this.

I loved the stone wall at 7:25, but I also loved it after the re-do. I can practically feel the sun reflecting off the building/s - just love it.

Hi Ian! How did you know? Whenever I struggle at something in my artistic practice, Ian sends another applicable instructional video to addresses my concerns or questions, like he knows what I am thinking. Bravo for keeping current with your instruction and good advice! Being bold is my new objective! Thank you!

Your text says the artist is Fyodor Zhakarov and later you say it is Fedor Zhakarov. There IS a Fyodor Zhakarov and I was wondering why his style was so different. Anyone else looking him up, note that it is Fedor. Thank you Ian for showing us this amazing artist.

Yes, would love to see your master copy. I’ve done this myself a few times and it is so educational!

I liked the first version of the wall better. Thank you for all you do.

Yes! Love where you’re going with this approach. I’m a chronic perfectionist and always trying to get to this style of painting.

I love this one and look forward to seeing more in the bold style of the Russian painter.

Thankyou for this wonderful video. Loved watching you paint while pushing your comfort zone. I also appreciated being able to watch the part where you reworked the wall. Reworking is something I do much too often. And like you, when I go back to look at a photo of how it looked before reworking I usually like the first version better. Thank you for sharing all of it with us. I would definitely like to watch you copying his painting in a future video.

Big brush to avoid being fussy. Put down and leave it. Simplify to shadow and light. These are the core lessons I NEED TO ADOPT. Thanx

No one does green like you Ian. 😊 Love the brushwork and boldness.

I like the result! I laughed when you fiddled with the wall. It is probably the worst of my painting faults, not knowing when to quit. thanks Wayne

Yes DO IT!!! BOLD IS BEAUTIFUL,,, and it frees the mind to see bold strokes.!

Love the sky the best. Bold, confident and alive. Please do the demo master painting. Thank You

Like everyone else, I want to see you do the copy, please! Two other comments: I am so glad you included the part of "muddling" things that are finished to detrimental affect. I'm sure guilty of that! And, those Russians, including many contemporary painters today, are so direct and bold in their paintings. I am in awe! thanks!

I would love to see the master copy demo! At age 65, I am a novice artist, and just trying to learn the basics of how to draw, represent value masses, and paint. It is a little overwhelming, but your book, Mastering Composition and your You Tube demos are immensely helpful. I am trying to do a daily sketch and your demos are inspirational and keep me motivated. The whole process of trying to learn a new skill is pushing me out of my comfort zone because I have to tolerate being clumsy before my skills improve. My favorite part of this demo was watching you struggle with the wall. It helped me to see that even experts still have moments of challenge. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

Ah, yes -- I agree with the simplified shapes of "wall 1.0", although "wall 2.0" is lighter and brighter with more sunlight hitting it, and I love that. I painted plein air the other day, for only the second time in my life. I went fast and loose with it, and the shapes were distorted but the colors were harmonious, the values were decently accurate, and it was very charming. I went home to the studio in order to "finish it", and unfortunately I lost its freshness. I think your style of painting and your careful compositions make an amazing statement with the bolder strokes. I hope you keep doing this.

The wall had a door in it, that might've helped that "hit the wall" feeling.I love the painting 😍

❤ LOVE to see Master Ian do Zakharov ! Yes Please. You are such an inspiration ! Thank You for showing stepping out of comfort zone !!!!

As usual delightful and I love the freeing oneself from items like the wall😊

Yes to master copy. You’re an excellent teacher Ian.

Wow! Love it!! More please.

The original rendition of the wall was indeed very nice… we all make the mistake of overworking…. Working in watercolor mingle be a good exercise in keeping things simple…

I took your last drawing class, it was one of the best things I did doing my 35 year of painting watercolors! I would love to see the demon on Fedor ZAkharov ….. thanks for all the time you spend sharing your knowledge and experience……

This isn’t the point of todays video, but watching you work always reminds me how brilliant colors are made by the very neutral neutrals that support them!! It always strikes me how much of the process is neutrals when your final results always end up feeling colorful.

Getting stuck in the "should have" zone is absolutely the worst when you're trying to repair mistakes. I've been able to eliminate many of them by having a sheet nearby to test any effect I'm not familiar with before applying to the work. Of course, this doesn't chop down every problem (and if you're doing work that matters, it never will) but the experience you have could be the difference between one of drama and one of horror.

This is how I do my block in. But then I always go back and balance , and detail, but I like realism.

Yes, me too please. Your timing is just right for me wanting to get "Wilder"

Always lover seeing any master copy paintings.

I would love to see it next month!

Feel I've been "colouring in" so far. This exercise is exactly what I need.

Yes please do the master copy next month. Love the boldness, I see why you’re drawn to his work.

Love how you pushed that painting! I’d love to see you paint the master exercise.

Definitely! Love to hear what worked, didn't, struggles, etc.!

Yes please- I love big expressive brushmarks and interesting colour choices too.

Fantastic new way of painting, Ian! I had an experience today where I returned to my art school I had not visited for 23 years. It's now a new art school. I rang the bell and was ushered upstairs. I had a talk with the man, telling him i had studied at this place 23 years ago, asked him about my teacher, and was saddened to hear he had passed away about ten years ago. This had me thinking about art, about life,etc. I think the journey is important, the here and now, to experience it all, enjoy it all.

Wow! Just lovely! I agree that I loved the bolder, rougher, chunkier look of the first wall although the second wall is beautiful. Yup, bring on that master copy, I'll put the coffee on!

Oh yes, love that big mark painting, master class 👍

I would like to see the master copy exercise. I find it helpful to see the process, the decision making, the problem solving. Also, the honesty of when you see an area in a painting that isn’t working and you scraping off the paint and reworking the area. I have been there and it’s liberating when you realize the value in a painting is the “doing” and not the end result.

Hi, Yes, it would be very helpful to see you paint the other Zakahrov painting. The boldness of this one is wonderful!

Yes, please. Show us your Zakharov copy process. I learned so much from this video about bold strokes, putting them down, leaving them, and color mixing.Thank you very much Ian.

Yes, I would love to see your master copy of the Zakharov painting!

Thank you for the larger pieces.

This inspiring video got me thinking. Maybe October should be declared as Painters' "Big Bold October". It's a time of dramatic landscape change in both the northern and southern hemispheres. This is our opportunity to be bold and bust through our comfort zones. I'll take some of these lessons with me this summer on my 5,000 km tenting and "FootstepsEast" plein air painting trek through eastern Canada. Ian Roberts ROCKS!

Hello Ian, Thank you for introducing wonderful art works of the Soviet artist Fyodor Zakharov to your audience. There is another talented contemporary Russian artist - Andrey Zakharov who creates his amazing work in the same style as his namesake predecessor. He mostly works en plain air and this is the key moment. Back to you video, I don’t think it’s possible to copy such a style from such a boring photograph, UNLESS one has an amazing memory for the light and remarkable imagination. Composition plays a big role in creating an interesting work , but, the most important in here is LIGHT ! You say, that one needs to try to get out of “ artistic comfort zone”, however, watching you while working on your sketch, I never once felt that you even for a moment left your “comfort zone” LIGHT ! and FREEDOM ! - that’s the secret of Impressionism in my opinion. Best regards, Elena from Moscow, Russia

so many excellent comments, this is stunning. My humble comment is: „how to paint non-boring paintings“ I.e. going beyond the academic and well trodden path. Easier said than done when leaving the comfort zone. Ian, this is a great video 🙏

Your videos open windows on how images work; and, especially this one, how images are created. They help me enjoy what previously I had only appreciated. Thanks!

The foreground almost falls down the mountain/ hillside in his painting - I love that. How would you like painting 1 of your drawings - big, with a big flat brush and right handed? Maybe put a fan on you (medium speed) and stretch your arms and body above your head and outward between painting shapes? Maybe marry the marigolds and a country road! Thank you for keeping me so inspired in this crazy world ❤! Here’s to lemonade!

Yes, please, to the Zakhartov master copy video! Can't wait! And thank you so much for this video! Now I know what I'm going to do today! ;-) Thank you for sharing even the muddling part, because it will help me not to despair so much when I fall into muddling. Don't know why it's so hard to leave it alone sometimes! Happy painting!

Yes please to the master copy exercise. This style also makes me think of Cezanne.

I love to see the master copy video. ❤

I enjoy watching master copies, some people don’t seem to like it but I think it’s good to see what you can learn

I agree with your comment that the first iteration of that wall was the best. The end result is fine, but the first was my favorite.

Yes please. I'm so pleased I found you. Just watching you for these few videos illustrates so much. The steps you choose to discuss reinforce the whole. It now looks like a repeatable process. Thank you

I love how this turned out. More master copy paintings, please

Ohhh wow 🤩 Ian that rocks!!! The freedom of it , boldness, but takes a lot of skill !! Love this Thanks so much

Yes I can also find myself overworking areas in my paintings! Please do more of these types of videos!

I too would love to see the master copy exercise, I love your bold painting Ian and yes, the first cut of that wall, thanks for everything

yes, I would like to see your copy of his painting. I did like your bolder painting in this video and I think, also, a lot of us would relate to your continued muddling instead of leaving the wall alone - they say most artists need someone to come along and snatch the painting away before we get on to the "just a bit more here" stage... cheers, Loraine

magnificent continuity of light and vivid color contrasts thank you

Your "bolder" painting à la Zakharov was fascinating. I would love to see more! I would so love to be looser and much less detail-oriented in my painting! Thank you!!

Yes, I would definitely love to see you paint the master copy of Sakharov!

Yes, please. Would love to see a video of your painting.

I would also enjoy seeing the master exercise-painting boldly is very appealing. Thanks.

Tom Roberts was a teacher of mine at the Ontario College of Art, early 1960s.

Yes please share this master copy. It’s wonderful to see this technique.

I was actually pleased to see you overwork the wall. I get to this point so many times and then end up discarding the painting because I think its ruined. Nice to see you correct it. I have to learn to stop when things are not going well, stop leave it and put it away for later. Yes please do the master painting.

Yes! Yes! to more Zakharov-style painting. I'll hope to see you do the Zakharov copy next time.

I think your painting is fabulous and the way you teach just the best. The book os composition explains it all! Thank you very much! 😊

I would love to watch you paint that beautiful painting. Love your work Ian as always

YES!! I would live to see you painting that copy ! Thank you ...

Yes please, eould love to see the master copy painting. Thank you so much .. and for sharing this painting too! 🎨💕

Yes. I would love to see you push paint inthis way.

Yes, yes, yes! Would love to see that master copy video!!!

Yes I would love to see the master copy vid Thanks

Yes would love to see the master copy

Hi Ian I bought all your videos and you love your teaching style. I definitely love that kind of painting !this is really talking to me. Thank you for sharing. All the best. Boris

Yes, Ian. I would love to see you paint the master copy of the Zakharov. Thank you!

Yes, I would love to see your Master Study of the Zahkarov painting! Thank you, great video!

That would be great! What a terrific painter Zakharov is!

Beautiful and simply done. Thank you

Master copy paintings, definitely yes. Love your videos and your gentle voice.