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This follows on from my last post: Plein Air Painting With Elora . (Thanks for all the kind words on this post. It means a lot. Chontele and I read some of them out to Elora. She was chuffed.) As I wrote in that post, Elora and I each created a plein air painting in New Zealand.…
While in New Zealand, I did a bit of plein air painting with my daughter Elora. She has been showing a keen interest in art and this was her first time trying her hand at plein air and working in oils. She’s a natural! I didn’t start plein air oil painting until an adult, so…
Welcome to Part 3 of this mini-series. The idea of this mini-series is to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the brainstorming and idea-generation process. This is what I typically do before I take on a major painting of an unfamiliar and challenging subject. A lot can go into…
We just got back from a short family trip to New Zealand. It’s such a stunning place that I like to go there every couple of years to collect reference material and inspiration. Below are a few of the reference photos I took from this trip. Feel free to paint from them. Just let…
In part 1 , I shared the reference photos I plan to paint from. Now I need to do some sketches and color studies. This is all about getting a feel for the subject before committing to a more serious painting. Dan Scott, Arabella Studies, 2026 First, I did a quick sketch in…
I’m currently exploring an idea for my next painting. The subject will be my youngest daughter, Arabella. I haven’t painted her before, but I have painted my eldest several times, so I need to even it out. With most subjects, I feel confident enough to jump straight into the…
Here’s how that little painting I wrote about yesterday turned out. It features trees, ferns, and the iconic sand of K’Gari Island. What caught my eye about this one was the light catching the fern leaves, creating these striking yellows and greens. Dan Scott, K’Gari Ferns,…
I started a small painting based on this reference photo from our recent K’gari Island trip. Dan Scott, K’gari Ferns, 2026 I’m doing this painting just for the joy of it. I have no grand plans and I don’t want to spend hours on it. I want to keep it fast and fresh. The problem,…
Here’s one fresh off the easel: Cascading Water . It features the stunning Upper Portals of Mount Barney. Dan Scott, Cascading Water, 2026 I struggled to finish this one. I wanted to finish it before we left for K’gari Island, but I just couldn’t solve a problem with part of the…
We just returned from a family trip to K’gari Island (formerly Fraser Island). I didn’t get any painting done unfortunately. I was too busy fishing and doing activities with the kids. But I did take a few reference photos to paint from, which I’ll share at the end. K’gari is a…
Here’s a brief lesson on observation from a painting I’m working on. Take a look at the reference photo. In particular, the cascading water. Dan Scott, Upper Portals, 2026, Reference Photo There’s a lot going on here! Let’s try to make sense of it. See the annotated image and my…
I’m working on another painting featuring the Upper Portals of Mount Barney. I wanted to share a quick lesson from the painting so far. I needed to make the light parts of the mountain a bit lighter and crisper. I tried the obvious solution of going over the top with a lighter…
The Jacaranda painting I did for the Tree Workshop was accepted as a finalist for the Brisbane Rotary Art Show. Yesterday, I attended the pre-opening ceremony for artists and sponsors with my eldest daughter Elora. Elora has been showing a keen interest in art and I wanted to…
Below is my most recent painting, featuring a rocky creek in the Upper Portals of Mount Barney, Australia. I hiked to this spot with two friends back in December 2025. We camped around the corner for one night. I’ll walk you through how I painted it. Dan Scott, Mount Barney…
I spent most of the morning working out what I’ll paint next. I settled on another scene from my hike to the Upper Portals at Mount Barney. Dan Scott, Upper Portals, Reference Photo, 2026 This area was also the subject of my last painting, which you can see here . I think if…
I haven’t been painting as much lately, as I have been busy putting the finishing touches on the next workshop on ponds and lakes (which should be ready within the next two weeks). But I did manage to complete one new painting: Mount Barney, Upper Portals . Dan Scott, Mount…
After writing the ground post , I was reminded of Julian Onderdonk’s work. He was a master of painting the ground, often studded with bluebonnets, cactus, and other wildflowers. His work is iconic of the Texan landscape (with bluebonnets being the official state flower of…
My recent New Zealand, Autumn Colors painting is a great demonstration of painting fallen leaves and other ground matter. Let’s go a bit deeper on that topic. The ground plays an essential but understated role in almost all paintings, and especially landscape paintings. It also…
I’ve got this painting to the stage where it’s almost done but doesn’t quite feel finished. The problem is, I’m not sure what else it needs. And I don’t want to just add paint and detail just for the sake of it. That’s a sure-fire way to overwork it. I want to share with you a…
I was looking for something in the archives when I came across a few photos of my old “studio”. This was from back in 2016, around the time I was starting Draw Paint Academy. I lived with my brother in a two-bedroom apartment. I had to paint in my room with the easel set up next…