Oil Painting

With its rich cultural heritage and awe-inspiring landscapes, Scotland has emerged as a top destination for artists seeking inspiration and growth through their travel. Artists coming to paint in Scotland find plenty to enjoy as they tap into the allure of this enchanting land and its culture. This prompted the renowned organization, Workshops In France, to leap across the English Channel and curate immersive painting workshops and art retreats, such as the Majestic Scotland Art Retreat, in the land of myth and legend. It’s an annual occurrence and each summer their team travels to Scotland to host these events. 

Why Oil Painters of America Artists are Choosing Scotland

This will be Workshops in France’s 3rd year of sponsoring an award at the Oil Painters of America National Conference. The prestigious Bronze Award, provided by the organization, aims to make international travel more accessible for artists. The OPA bestows the award upon the artist whose work they select for this special recognition and they generously include additional cash as financial support, ensuring that the winning artist can attend a top-notch workshop or art retreat without breaking the bank.

Even before the award sponsorship came into being, the connection between Oil Painters of America artists and Scotland was growing. OPA Masters and award winners Daniel Gerhartz and Quang Ho (with Adrienne Stein) have previously led workshops in this impressive land.   

Kami Mendlik received the bronze award for her piece, Devotions, in Steamboat, Colorado at the 2022 conference. Her landscape was a standout at the conference, a painting with lily pads floating on a serene pond. After much deliberation, Kami selected to attend the Majestic Scotland Art Retreat with her partner, in July 2024. As fate would have it, last year’s prize winner chose the same art retreat. In 2023, Scott Burdick was awarded the bronze award for his piece The Hope of Freedom. Scott had accompanied Susan Lyon to Provence when she taught with Workshops in France in 2022. Once they considered their options Scott decided on Scotland and signed up for Majestic Scotland Art Retreat. The gathering at this summer’s retreat now boasts a built-in master class of seasoned painters.

Nationally recognized, Rose Frantzen is also set to teach a workshop at the same grand manor house in Scotland’s Angus region with Workshops in France later this year in July, further cementing Scotland’s status as a preferred destination for artistic exploration.

Majestic Scotland Art Retreat: Where Inspiration Takes Flight

Majestic Scotland Art Retreat, is a standout offering from Workshops in France and draws its name from the awe-inspiring destinations where the artists venture out to paint some truly majestic sights. Some locations such as Glamis Castle are still connected to the royal family. Other sites belonged to rulers of the past; the ancient Dunnottar Castle overlooking the North Sea provides a backdrop of breathtaking beauty. Watching the sea birds swoop around the castle ruins while a lone bagpiper plays a lament nearby, makes the perfect place for artists to engage all their senses as they paint. 

Scots are fiercely proud of their heritage from their ancient Celtic roots to hosting the largest cultural event in Europe, the Edinburgh Festival. Scottish culture includes appreciation and encouragement for all things art. When asked why artists are choosing Scotland to pursue artistic goals, some might say that Workshops in France is biased since two of its organizers, Julie Snyder and Shirley Hambrick, were born there and take every opportunity to return to their homeland. This is good news for their fellow travelers as they understand Scottish accents that can leave most foreigners baffled. 

Historical Artistic Heritage 

One genuine group of painters was the “Glasgow Boys,” a collective of 19th-century painters who revolted against classical painting and left an enduring impact both at home and abroad, adding to Scotland’s prominence in the art world. Inspired by the French Impressionists and painters who popularized the pursuit of plein-air painting, their work centered on portraying everyday life from their own experience. 

The Glasgow Boys were seen as rebels by the academics of their time as their paintings captured the real life of everyday people, farmlands, and their country. Some of the group were also avid travelers and painted abroad. This modernistic approach was not limited to Glasgow of course, as artists throughout Europe were rejecting academic Classicism for a more direct style, painting from observation and often en plein air.  The transition eventually led to Impressionism. Scotland’s artistic legacy, as exemplified by the Glasgow Boys, provides a historical backdrop for today’s contemporary painters of realism.

Hauntingly Beautiful and Inspiring Landscapes: A Palette of Diversity

Scotland is a location like no other that inspires artists with visually stunning, pristine ecosystems. Imagine waking up to mist-shrouded scenes with wild deer and songbirds adding to the enchantment. The Majestic Scotland Art Retreat is a sensory experience that touches the soul with tales of legendary feuds and romantic heroes. From the dramatic Highlands to the serene coastal areas Scotland offers a diverse range of subjects for artists. The Glasgow Boys and other artists found inspiration in rural settings and paved the way for contemporary artists to draw from Scotland’s hauntingly beautiful landscapes. The extended summer hours of prolonged daylight add more opportunities for painters to capture the essence of this land.

Art Retreats and Residencies: 

OPA Sponsorship and Artist Connections

Having two OPA bronze awardees, Kami Mendick and Scott Burdick, in attendance at the Majestic Scotland Art Retreat this summer, along with master artist Susan Lyon, adds a layer of depth to the artistic experience. The collaboration of unique and diverse artists fosters enriching discussions, making the journey as memorable as the art itself. There are other delights to be found in Scotland, her world-class museums in Edinburgh and Glasgow, along with the Scottish Highlands and the misty isles of the West Coast make it a destination of discovery no matter where the road takes you. 

If you’re eager to be part of this extraordinary group of painters, reach out to Workshops in France with any questions about Majestic Scotland or other upcoming workshops at team@workshopsinfrance.com. 

Being an artist, like many other professions, opens up to an interesting question on the choices one faces, e.g., Sculpting vs. Painting, Oil painting vs. Water colors vs. Pencil drawing, etc., or perhaps a little bit of all of them.

There is, of course, no answer to what people will choose in the end, it is their individual preference that will influence their decision.  However, I would like to delve a bit deeper as to once our artist decides which medium to call their own – what would be their subject matter or perhaps their subjects (plural).

Through the years and after visiting a myriad of museums, galleries, and exhibitions, we many times observe a painting, or any other work of art, and immediately we can tell who the artist is due to their unique painting style, and/or genre of choice, and/or use of colors.  I have visited the art web pages of many artists to see that they focus on one subject matter and very little on other genres.  Again, there is no right or wrong if one chooses one or the other.  But I would like to provide my own “Two cents worth” to this topic.

Looking at my website, one can see that I have differentiated between my subject matters, by creating categories or albums: Equine, Figurative, Still life, Scapes, and Boats  Are they distinct one from the other, or are they all something of me? I believe the latter is more representative of myself.

I love horses, and I have painted quite a few in my time. However, it is always their eye(s) that are special and require the most attention to capture. In essence, they are the window to their souls.

Figurative painting brings out the facial expressions, the smile and twinkle in eyes, the connections and relationships between the subjects, and of course the anatomy of the ever-changing body between relaxed and when exerting an effort.

Land and Sea Scapes – capturing what nature has in its endless beauty and power like a storm or rough sea or pleasant beach.

Still life is unique, as it allows you to “bring them to life”, and to connect some interpretive thread between them.

I believe that keeping oneself “open” to multiple genres of art is worthwhile and provides a robust and diverse insight to living and dormant subject matters. For me different genres require different approaches to the painting and different implementations of painting techniques.

I have heard some artists advocate in favor of the single genre option, that “multiple genres may indicate that the artist has not found their ‘true’ specialty”.  I find this to be nothing but discouraging, and as I mentioned before, there is no right or wrong, but if artists only paint in one genre, maybe they should try their hand at adding to their repertoire. They might be pleasantly surprised. 

It was the day after Labor Day in 1954, where I found myself sitting in a first-grade classroom. Being a “Baby Boomer”, it was common to have at least 40 or more students in one class. This was terrifying and overwhelming to say the least, so much so that the boy in front of me wet his pants. He was so embarrassed, and the entire room felt empathy towards him even at that young age. All our nerves were shot, and then came the Alphabet.

I did well for the first few letters, but I found I couldn’t keep up with the rest of my class. As you can imagine, panic ensued, and I quickly learned to just fake it; stay under the radar as much as possible. With these challenges that I didn’t quite understand, I began to think about things outside of my classroom, and that is where I was stuck with the “Art Spirit.” I began to draw things during class, which brought me to my first punishment. In my first grader brain, “All I was doing was drawing my mom in her undergarments,” which she walked around the house in. If you knew Billie, it would make you laugh, because my mother had a huge personality and spirit and did not worry about modesty.

The only thing that kept me drawing was the need to feel good about myself. Being unable to read well caused me to fall behind more and more. At the time, no one understood why I had a hard time in school, so the assumption was that I didn’t care. Art was the only thing that I could do on my own terms; it kept my spirit alive in a time that I had little to be proud of. It wasn’t until 1980 that I was diagnosed with dyslexia.

The early 1960’s were my turning point, this is when I found my “North Star”. My passion hit me like a bolt of lightening when I first saw a man doing an oil painting demonstration in a department store. Right then, in that moment, I thought, “Now that is for me!” I started learning about art, and my heroes became the great illustrators of the past and present. I never had heroes in sports, so I knew I found something special to me.

Upon graduation from high school, I was accepted into a private commercial art school. There were only 55 students in the entire school. Each and every teacher was a working professional who taught us one on one—no books! I graduated early, got married to my wife of 55 years, Jonna, and from there my career took off. I knew so long ago that I had the “Art Spirit” in me, and at once I began my fantastic career as a designer and illustrator. 

My evenings, weekends, vacations, and any free time I could manage were spent on oil painting. I found Master painters to teach me their ways, since my career focused on commercial art. I knew oil painting was my true passion, and I pursued it while working in corporate America for as long as I could. Jonna and I supported our family, and in 2001, Jonna’s support led me to a life decision that changed my trajectory forever.

On a cold January day in 2001, I walked away from the corporate world, commercial work, and all of the money. My dream of being a full time painter was here. I worked so hard to get to this point, and it began to pay off. I was showing work coast to coast, traveling the country while getting inspiration for my impressionistic paintings from all of the beautiful nature my family and I were able to experience. I drew inspiration from water, from the mountains, from the woods and the desert. I found myself spending more and more time in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is such a magical place to me and many other artists alike. It was a town thriving on creativity and art. There were so any galleries in Santa Fe and so much promise, that we decided to live there and show in galleries all over the West. That was until 2008, when half or more of the galleries closed, including mine.

After the galleries closed, Jonna and I returned to our beloved Kentucky and we found success on our home turf. I started doing workshops at various venues and art clubs in Cincinnati, and I began to take groups to France and Italy. I have done studio work and plein air work within my workshops, and teaching became a huge passion of mine. I would encourage anyone who feels a passion for art to pick up a pencil, brush or whatever medium you prefer and just try it, it can only make you better to try doing something you love, as I did.

I am always trying to learn as well, by practicing new tricks and continuing to learn from the masters, some I can even call my great friends. When doing plein air, I use an “Easy L” portable easel, but I am a bit older now, so I do prefer to work out of my studio and perfect my craft even further. I paint mostly on canvas, as I can stretch my own, and I use regular oil paints, as well as Griffin Alkyd white by Winsor & Newton.  I am proud to say that I “work” almost 7 days a week, but to me it’s my freedom, not my constraint.

Fundamental to our success is my wife, Jonna. She handles the business end of things, as we say “everything but the paint”, so that I can stay in my right brain. She is also my best critic, and will encourage me to push myself into creating masterpieces. I paint only what interests me, and sometimes when I paint from photos, I will paint upside down so that I stop my left brain from interfering with my right. This was shown to me by artist and long-time friend, C.W. Mundy OPAM. More often than not, I enjoy writing stories for my paintings. Sometimes they are a bit more open verse, but it adds another dimension to the art that allows the viewer to expand their visual experience. 

Something that I have enjoyed doing is commissions, which I like to call “Legacy Paintings”. Being able to tie a person’s or family’s story and emotion to a beautiful landscape gives me such a full heart. It is a win, win, win experience for all involved, and these paintings become instant family heirlooms. To know that generations to come will be admiring my artwork fills my heart with such joy, its crazy to look back at how I got here.

I am so fortunate that the Lord gave me the ability to make a living doing what truly feeds my soul; I make art, I have the pleasure of bringing beauty into this world, from this world, and share it with family, friends, and strangers. Of course, we are only strangers until I can shake your hand, give you a hug and offer you my heart and soul on canvas. 

Stay tuned, I am sure the best is yet to come, thanks be to God.

Tom Bluemlein OPA

It was an amazing thing to be accepted into the 2018 OPA National Exhibition in Steamboat Springs, CO. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the acceptance list came out and my name was on it!

Many years earlier in the Northlight Studio at the Ridgewood Art Institute a fellow artist Sue Barasi passed me a handwritten note on a scrap of paper. “What to do to get better” it read across the top. Sue was my favorite painter in the class. Her paintings were terrific, I wanted to paint just like her. Sue was so nice to me when I first came to the Wednesday and Thursday oil painting classes. I had been oil painting for a year on my own and had become frustrated at the lack of progress. Through a series of happenstances, I came to the Wednesday-Thursday John Osborne oil painting class at The Ridgewood Art Institute in Northern, NJ. A great little town with tremendous character. Ridgewood could have been the stage for the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

I had very little knowledge of the fine art world, having been working for the previous 21 years in the New York City Fire Department and running my own sign company. I knew I loved art and paintings however I didn’t know how much I didn’t know. Sue was very kind and must have realized early on that I was passionate about getting better. During class breaks I would walk over to her easel and look at how she blended colors and marveled at her ability to interpret what she saw in front of her into pure beauty on her canvas. Sue’s note read “Join other art organizations like Greenwich Art Society (I think that’s near you), visit museums and look at more good art, take workshops and classes from your favorite artists and join Oil Painters of America! Most of all show up, paint, paint and paint.” I still have her note and pass along her sage advice to younger painters whenever I can.

I decided to overcome my fear of travel, mostly flying, and attend the OPA National Convention in Steamboat Springs. This was a big hurdle for me as I had decided after working for over one month at the devastating site of the World Trade Center Collapse I wouldn’t be boarding an airplane any time soon. After seventeen years the time had come to travel. My wife Diane encouraged me to attend and together we invited our mostly grown children to join us. We landed in Denver and drove the 4 hours to Steamboat taking in the beautiful vistas and the awe-inspiring Rockies.

When we got to Steamboat and settled into the beautiful Steamboat Grand Hotel I split from the group and looked for places to paint. I wanted to compete in the OPA Wet Paint Competition. I settled on a ranch just west of town and met two of the nicest people you can imagine. Mike and his wife Maureen owned a big cattle ranch just outside Steamboat. I asked for permission to paint on their property, and they said yes. I think I painted there for three days and got to know them a little. Mike was the president of the Colorado Cattleman’s Association and Maureen was a national Champion Skeet and Trap Shooter. Maureen owned and operated a trap shooting course across the street from where I was painting and I took the family there after I turned in my wet painting for the Wet Paint Competition. We drove around what was like an 18-hole golf course on golf carts fitted with racks to hold our shot guns in the back. When we got to a new station you would get set up and press a key fob which would release the clay into the air which you then would shoot at, each taking a turn at mostly missing. The surrounding mountains and fields were breathtakingly beautiful.

I attended classes and lectures all week and loved learning new things from new people. When the end of the day would come or sometimes between classes or lecture, I would try to meet with my family at the pool or wherever they were. I felt at times I was neglecting them due to all the running around and learning I was doing. However when we met up they would tell me of all the high adventure they had while I was gone. I was overjoyed to hear how much fun they were having. We were making lifelong memories and friends as well. The parties we attended during the evenings and dinners with other artists were some of the best times we’ve had.

The night of the big art opening at The Steamboat Art Museum we decided to get there early so we would be able to view all the paintings before the crowds got there and really try to take them in. I told my family “Let’s go to the opening early, then scoot out for a nice dinner together.” I didn’t plan on attending the awards ceremony since there was no reason for me to go and I knew I had not spent as much time with my family as I would have liked. We looked at the art and when the museum became very full the 7 of us slipped out onto Lincoln Avenue. We stood on the sidewalk in front of The Steamboat Art Museum and then decided to take a quick look at Wild Horse Gallery right across the street. I had been thru the gallery earlier in the week and wanted the gang to see the incredibly high caliber art there before we went to dinner. We walked in and I was delighted to see Mike and Maureen the ranchers I had met. They were looking at paintings too. I introduced them to my wife and family and we chatted up a storm. Richard Galusha the co-owner of the gallery walked by and the four of us began chatting with him. After a while Richard asked me what I was doing in Steamboat and I told him my art story. I had come because I got a painting in the show across the street and it was such an honor my entire family flew out to take it all in. I told him we had seen the show across the street and were now headed out to dinner. He looked at me funny and asked me ”what’s your name again?” After that he walked to the back of the gallery opened a desk drawer and took a piece of paper out and read it. He then walked back up to our group and looked me in the eye and said “If I was you I’d go to the awards ceremony” I was shocked to say the least. I couldn’t believe what he had said and that we now had to go to the awards ceremony. We went and I won an Award of Excellence in the Wet Paint Competition. That was one of the best feelings I’ve had, to be honored with an award and be on stage with great artists I looked up to. I never expected that.

I’ve often thought about my transition from firefighting to art and have to say it’s been a great one with a lot of similarities. During my years running in and out of burning buildings and living for 24 hours at a time with fellow fire fighters we formed tight friendships that have lasted many, many years. There was something very special about what we did back then. Together as a group we were able to accomplish great things. Although it’s not likely a building or ceiling will fall on my head while I’m painting, I have a new family of friends I can count on who have helped me along on this wonderful new journey. 

There are several ways to create more depth and a feeling of 3-D space in your paintings. Some of these include, atmosphere perspective, softening edges and flattening shapes as they recede and more especially, using the principle of linear perspective. I have students in my college classes who tend to shy away from linear perspective. I admit, perspective can be a daunting, complex principle, but it doesn’t have to be. To create more depth in my paintings I begin with a simple, one-point perspective grid before I paint in my subject matter by following three basic steps:

1. Find my horizon line (HL) or “eye-level”.

2. Locate my vanishing point (VP) or “station point”. This is where the viewer would be viewing the scene from.

3. All parallel lines go to the same vanishing point. Lines above the horizon line will appear to go down to the V.P. Lines below the horizon line will appear to go up to the V.P

If you are working from a photograph, you can draw lines directly on the photo to find the VP and HL. Follow the lines that would be parallel to each other in real space such as the tops and bottoms of all the windows on the side of the buildings. In this example, the buildings are all lined up and parallel to each other.  The crossing point of all these lines show where the HL and VP are located.

A high horizon line will give your scene a more “birds-eye” view as if the viewer is up in the sky, looking out the window of a tall building or a hillside.

To locate your HL and VP on location, imagine a laser beam shooting out of your eye directly in front of you with your head level, not looking up or down, just straight ahead. Where that laser beam would strike on the side of a hill, rock, bush, tree, building etc., is the location of your horizon line or eye level. If you sit down, your HL will lower. If you stand up, your HL will be higher. Your VP will be your line of site or your station point, directly towards the HL. Another way to find your HL and VP on location is to hold out one of your long brushes like you’re looking down the barrel of a gun with one eye closed, straight ahead and level. Where the end point of your brush appears to touch what is in front of you, that is your HL and VP.

When I begin my painting, I first cover the entire canvas with a mixture of one color and a basic medium such as Liquin. I then lift out or subtract the paint where I want my lines and marks. You can use the back end of your brush to make scratch marks, use a Q-tip or a clean brush to lift out lines and marks. Locate and draw in your horizon line or eye level. Then locate your VP, or your station point. Next, with a straight edge (you don’t need a straight edge but it’s helpful) draw lines out from the VP in a radial fashion. Draw a bunch of lines so it looks like a big spider with many straight legs coming out of your VP. At this point, your grid and painting will already have a sense of depth.  Begin drawing and/or massing in the shapes on top of this grid.
(See diagrams below. Also see my demo video link at the end of this article).

You can also use the spider-like grid lines in your landscape paintings to help you place rocks, pathways, streams, trees, and clouds, etc., giving your painting more depth and interest. 

In this drawing taken from the book “Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting” (see below), John Carlson shows how a one-point perspective grid can be helpful to accurately lay-in cloud forms giving the sky a more vaulted and spacial effect. The clouds can be more accurately placed within the perceptive grid as they move into the distance showing a more natural and correct size relationship as the clouds appear to compress and diminish in the distance. 

Understanding these 3 basic principles will allow you to create more depth and a feeling of space in your paintings. You become the director of your own show in painted form! You get to decide the viewer’s location, VP or station point, the “camera” angle, if it’s a high or low horizon, etc. Give the one-point perspective grid a try and let me know what you think!

Note: Rob Adamson will be teaching a 4-Day workshop at the Scottsdale Artists’ School in May of 2024 using these principles on linear perspective. For details: https://www.scottsdaleartschool.org/events/153/

For a full video demonstration watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrdJNgX9Z3Y
For a shorter timelapse version of a similar scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0y4DRDHwnc