Mediums: Instructor demonstrates in oil, though the strategies are applicable to any medium
Date recorded: Friday, April 10, 2026
In this special Technique Takeaway, Mitchell explores the strategies painters use to create evocative atmospheric effects. The session begins with a survey of several contemporary artists—including Signori, Albala, and Whadcock—who create atmospheric works that inhabit the space between representation and abstraction. From there, we look at how value, edge work, and color serve as the fundamental keys to controlling atmosphere. Mitchell’s demonstration will cover how to select appropriate reference material and then translate it into a painting, applying each of these key techniques:
• Using edges to direct focus and suggest distance
• Manipulating values (especially closely related values) to create atmospheric depth
• Leveraging color temperature to support the illusion of space and luminosity
• Simplifying composition to add a dimension of mystery and abstraction
This Takeaway is ideal for painters looking to move into evocative, atmospheric territory—where implication replaces definition and mood becomes the subject.
$40 for one year access
Mitchell Albala is an award-winning landscape painter, workshop instructor, and author. His semi-abstract and atmospheric landscapes have been exhibited nationally and are represented in corporate and private collections. He is the author of two best-selling books on landscape painting: Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice (Watson-Guptill, 2009), with over 60,000 copies in print; and The Landscape Painter’s Workbook: Essential Studies in Shape, Composition, and Color (Rockport Publishers, 2022), which is currently the #1 selling book on landscape in the nation. Mitchell leads plein air workshops in Italy and teaches workshops throughout the Pacific Northwest. He has lectured on Impressionism and landscape painting at the Seattle Art Museum and has written for International Artist and Artists & Illustrators magazines. Mitchell also hosts a popular painting blog, which is among feedspot.com’s “Top 100 Painting Blogs for Artists.”
About Our Past Technique Takeaways:
Discover specific art techniques that you can ‘take away’ from some of your favorite artists and apply to your own work. This one-and-a-half hour recorded presentation will showcase a process that the artist incorporates in their art practice. Instruction will be through a combination of lecture and demonstration.
You’ll be able to watch the class recording as many times as you would like for one year unless otherwise specified in the product description. (If an instructor wishes their recordings to be available for less than a year, we defer to instructor preferences.) There are no ongoing charges and your access will automatically end.
A link to the recording will be included in your on-screen purchase confirmation, in your purchase confirmation email and on your Online Classrooms page.
(There is no Zoom link for this event because it has already taken place).
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