Mediums: Oil or acrylic
Level: All levels welcome
Class Dates: Fridays, November 13, November 20 & December 4, 2026
Class Times:
• 10:00 am-12:30 pm Pacific Time
• 1:00 pm-3:30 pm Eastern Time
• 6:00 pm-8:30 pm UK Time
Behind the Mona Lisa, the Hay Wain, and Christina’s World, there is a pictorial element that determines the psychological flavour of the work: the sky. From Veronese to Van Gogh, the successful rendering of a sky – one not just factually correct, but one that anchors the painted world – holds everything together. It is the essence of the scene that defines the light, and to some degree the narrative or drama.
Through an exploration of techniques and art history, Mark will introduce a variety of methods that will enable you to create convincing skies.
Week one: history, materials and beginnings.
– A deep dive into the history of landscape as a setting and then as a motif in its own right.
– Assembling a useful landscape / sky palette, brushes that work with rather than against us.
– Underpainting techniques.
Week two: adjusting the temperature and illumination.
– direct and indirect painting methods
– The temperature and direction of light
Week three: painting into the sky and allowing creative destruction
– glazing and scumbling to add depth and presence
– Alternative techniques to move with rather than portray the sky
In stock
$225.00
Born in the Fenlands of Eastern England, Mark Thompson went on to study painting at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. His early memories of the land informed his studies, and he continues to explore the inextricable link between landscape and memory in his current body of work. After completing his degree at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1997, he won first the Duveen and then the Rootstein Hopkins travel scholarships, which took him to Iceland, Norway and Finland. Mark’s experiences in these harsh Nordic landscapes inspired his first solo exhibition at the Proud Galleries in London.
Since that first show, Mark has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the Gilchrist Fisher Landscape Painting Award, the Villiers David Award, and most recently a Pouch Cove Foundation residency. Mark’s paintings have been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions in Europe and America. His work is represented in public and private collections, including the Government Art Collection of Great Britain and Microsoft collections.
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