Plein air painting at Cantref Reservoir, Brecon Beacons with Tom Hughes - 42 mins

Join award-winning oil painter Tom Hughes, as he completes a full painting at Cantref Reservoir in the Breacon Beacons.

Fully narrated with in-depth technical insights, Tom's relaxed yet informative teaching style describes what he's doing, as he does it, helping you bridge the gaps in your own knowledge and approach technical problems with ease.

For a full list of materials and equipment, please watch this video on YouTube

02:00 Mark making and transparency in landscape painting

03:10 Painting with the sun behind you, compared to in front of you. What the differences are and why to choose either one.

05:30 Horizon haze and blue sky

06:50 Judging tones on the distant horizon

08:30 Squinting, why and when and how to do it

10:35 The order in which to paint things

12:10 Reasons for choosing a location

12:30 Brush stroke direction to denote distance

14:15 How I paint trees

15:10 Mixing distant greens

16:50 Using the ground colour on the board to work in your favour

18:10 Shout out to Bob Ross 

20:05 Painting water, how to describe the surface

23:50 When to use bigger brushes

25:08 Painting shapes with hue and tonal values, not objects

27:05 Advantages to painting standing up

29:15 More on greens

29:40 Detailed list of all my colours on the palette, why I use them

30:50 Mark making to describe things in nature

33:20 Dry brush techniques

34:00 More mark making ideas

36:45 Balancing a painting at the end

37:31 Using your fingertips

39:18 Doing tree trunks

39:52 Artistic licence and making creative decisions

41:45 Strange shapes in water

42:08 Knowing when to stop