The creative process is a highly personal journey and every artist is unique. As an artist, you can do what you want with your art, but there are certain rules that you need to be aware of if you want to create unique and exceptional artwork.

Every painting medium has unique characteristics and requires a specific approach. But it's not just mastery of a single medium that improves an artist’s work.

Painting is a complex language consisting of a set of guidelines every artist should know. These are the precious principles the master artists have used successfully to produce their masterpieces. You can break the rules in your work, but that should only be done intentionally and not out of ignorance.

With the right guidelines, drawing and painting are skills that can be learned by anyone. It doesn’t matter what professional background you come from or where you are with your skills as an artist. If you really want to draw and paint well, then you can!

That’s why I created my step-by-step online course

• Use a simple drawing technique that will allow you to draw anything and map your paintings easily.

• Loosen up your paintings naturally.

• Mix colors with confidence, understanding every step and the role of every color on your palette.

• Analyze your subject and simplify its complexities.

• Paint diverse subjects using the same painting approach.

• Design a successful composition.

• Use different types of contrast to achieve a strong visual impact in your paintings.

• Achieve a powerful effect of light in your paintings.

• Fill seemingly gray shadows with color and light.

• Achieve the illusion of space and depth in your paintings.

• Develop your observation skills to make your work look realistic.

• Paint from photographs without copying them.

In this module, I’ll show you a simple drawing technique that will make it easier for you to draw not only landscape and still life, but also people, animals and other complex objects.

You’ll be surprised to learn that you don’t need to spend years in drawing classes to draw well!

In this module I’ll explain how to find the right consistency of your gouache so that your colors stay opaque and vibrant.

You will learn how to correctly use water for painting with gouache and apply gouache in layers without causing the colors to mix between layers.

I will also show you how to soften edges and use a dry brush technique to make your paintings look more interesting.

We’ll discuss the major elements of color theory.

I’ll show you how to mix clean and bright colors using a limited palette of six colors.

We’ll also mix rich and colorful grays using the same palette.

Then, you will learn how to use a full palette of colors to work faster and preserve the vibrancy of your colors.

Once you have learned the fundamentals of color mixing, I’ll explain how to analyze the colors in a subject by asking four key questions that will help you mix the exact color you need every time.

In this module you will learn how to efficiently use value and shape to tell a story in your art.

I’ll explain how to break the painting process intro three simple phases, each of which will naturally lead your painting to completion.

We will apply the three-phase-approach to paint a landscape and a figure.

I’ll show you how to achieve clarity and create the impression of reality in your painting.

I will also help you understand the role of detail in painting and how to know when your painting is finished.

In this module, you will learn how to achieve a powerful effect of light in your painting.

I’ll show you how to use local color to keep the colors in your painting strong and vibrant.

We will also focus on how to paint colorful, yet realistic shadows that will help you create the illusion of strong light, depth and three-dimensionality.

You will discover how to manipulate the temperature and saturation of your colors to bring your painting to life.

In this module we’ll paint a sunlit street of the coastal village of Sesimbra.

You’ll learn how to simplify a complex scene and show light in your landscape, filling the painting with color.

I’ll show you how to make your landscape painting look realistic and full of life, without overloading it with details.

Painting figures can seem intimidating, but it is actually no different than painting other subjects. In this module we’ll use the technique of focusing on shapes, colors and values to paint a figure.

I’ll show you how to simplify a figure, breaking it down into simple shapes.

You will learn how to understand skin tones and show light on a figure.

I’ll also explain how to use the balance of color temperatures within and between the objects in the scene to make the scene come to life.

In this module, I upload additional painting demonstrations so that you can get further practice integrating what you have learned in the course.

• 8 Core Modules + 1 Bonus Module with over 20 hours of HD video recorded from two different angles: top view and behind the shoulder view to make you feel as if we are painting together in the same studio. You will be able to see how I wash my brushes, mix the colors and apply them to the paper.

• Step-by-step video tutorials with detailed explanations. The length of the lessons vary from 5 to 35 minutes.

• Photo references as well as printable line drawings for every demonstration (If you aren’t a confident drawer yet, you will be able to download my line drawings and print them off, trace them to your watercolor paper, and paint with me).

• You will also be able to ask me questions. If something is unclear to you in the lessons in the course you will be able to ask me questions in the Frequently Asked Questions section in the course. In that section, I published my answers to those questions that students have asked most often, but if you can’t find your question there you will be able to ask it in the comments at the bottom of the page and I will be glad to answer it.

  This is a SELF-STUDY course and the course will teach you everything you need to know to become a better painter.

Most painting courses are designed to teach you how to paint a certain subject, like still life or landscape, or figure. My main goal is to show you how to paint different subjects using the same painting approach so that you don't limit yourself to certain motifs and instead paint anything that inspires you.

• We will paint landscapes, still life, flowers and figures in this course. I will help you to learn how to analyze your subject and use color and shapes so that you can paint anything, no matter what the subject is.

• Painting a landscape or a seascape can be exciting because they require you to create the illusion of reality and a sense of atmosphere within them.

• Still life is a powerful subject because it allows you to use your color palette in its full strength. Strong colors elicit strong emotions in both the artist and the viewer.

• Figure painting allows you to tell a unique story that will resonate with the viewer because the presence of a figure in a painting forms an emotional connection between the figure and the viewer.

• Switching between different subjects is beneficial for artistic growth and makes an artist’s life more inspiring and interesting.

I have always been obsessed with capturing light in my art. I have spent years trying to figure out how to achieve a convincing illusion of light in my paintings by studying the works of master painters. These master painters inspired me to try new approaches and techniques that led me to attain a deeper understanding of light and color in art.

In this course, I will share everything that I have discovered during my “painting light” experiments with you.

In every demonstration in this course, I’ll go beyond the fundamentals of painting and I’ll explain how to analyze your subject and use your color palette to achieve realistic effects of strong light in your paintings.

WHY I instruct in GOUACHE

I chose gouache as the medium for this course not only because it’s my favorite painting medium, but also because it dries to a matte finish and doesn’t produce any glare on the surface of the painting, which allows my students to see colors in the demonstrations in the course clearly without distracting reflections.

Artists tend to define themselves and their work by the medium they use.  However, trying different mediums is beneficial for any artist. It forces you out of your comfort zone and pushes you to grow artistically.

Before I discovered gouache, I had been painting with oils for a decade. I had also been experimenting with soft pastels, watercolor and acrylics. I’ve always wanted to see more color in my paintings and make them look alive at the same time. Every medium I’ve tried has brought something new to my approach to painting, but gouache changed everything. The day I tried it for the first time, I realized that it was the medium I had been looking for all those years. It didn't even feel like a painting medium because I couldn’t see the glare on its surface, nor the texture of the brushstrokes - nothing stood between me and the velvety colors in my painting. It was like using the colors straight from a rainbow.

My experience with gouache has changed my approach to oils and acrylics and it has completely changed my understanding of color.

Gouache is an outstanding medium for fine art. It embodies the most powerful characteristics of other mediums and at the same time transcends the boundaries of many mediums:

• It has the opaque qualities of oil, but it can easily be cleaned up and stored away.

• It allows you to paint in layers like acrylics, but it doesn't dry permanently, so you can make changes to your painting at any time.

• It dries to a matte flat finish with the brilliance and opacity of soft pastels.

• You can just as easily travel and setup gouache as with watercolors, without such a strong need to plan and reserve whites.

Not many artists are aware of the amazing properties of this medium and the possibilities it offers. Gouache is the perfect medium for exploring the true potential of your color palette and it can deeply transform your work.

However, it is not necessary to take this course using gouache. If you wish to take it using oils or acrylics, you definitely can because my focus in the course is to make you a better painter and provide you with the knowledge that you can apply to painting with any medium.

“COLOR MASTERY” is a digital SELF-STUDY course. All of the video lessons, photo references and PDFs are available to you in my course portal 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You’ll have LIFETIME ACCESS to the course across any and all devices you own.

You can do the course from home, from anywhere in the world, and on your schedule!

This Online Course is designed to fit around your schedule. The lessons are available for you to watch when it’s convenient for you. You can practice and watch different segments again and again. I am sure you will get more and more 'aha!' moments as soon as you slow down and start enjoying the process. You’ll have lifetime access to the course on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

No need to attend in-person workshops. All you need is an internet connection!

You’ll never miss a beat. Go at your own pace and complete the lessons on your own schedule.

The honest answer is, it depends on you and your current situation. If you spend a few hours a week working on each module, it will take you about 8 weeks to complete the course. I think 40 or 60 minute painting sessions are optimal for learning and practicing new skills. Your brain has to be fresh when you are painting, so I suggest you take your time and paint only when you are full of energy. Gouache is not like oil or acrylics, it doesn’t dry permanently and can be reactivated with a damp brush. You can stop painting at any time and return to the work when you feel recharged.

There’s an introductory video explaining how the course works, and all the videos after that go through the material in easy-to-follow lessons, so you never feel overwhelmed.

There is no rush and no right or wrong amount of time, because you will have LIFETIME ACCESS to the course!