Dot Courson Fine Art Blog

Below are photographed works in the beginning of my painting process along with the finished- or almost finished - works. The whole painting process is fun, and may surprise many collectors and students of art who only see my finished works. This way of painting works for me and keeps color bright and helps the final painting look loose and (hopefully) "painterly! They are realistic when viewed from and distance and in these photos, but (trust me) they are much more impressionistic in real life! I dislike "stiff" starts. These loose starts keep my work "alive". It is a free, creative and enjoyable process. It is not painting inside the lines, but I like to think that it is intelligently done and thought out ahead of time... Still life starts which are usually tonal, because these are done in a bit more realistic style than my other works. There are reasons behind everything that is done. It is not as mindless as it looks! Some of these are still unfin...

January Snow 24x30 Oil on board ©2011 DotCourson We recently had a rare snow in north Mississippi. We got 8 inches of snow on January 2nd and it is still outside on my back yard in the shaded areas today! I just got back from teaching/demo a snow scene. (in studio) I'm no expert on snow, but DO know when to bring in the experts. So I brought in a few books: The Landscapes - Richard Schmid's new book, Soviet Impressionist Painting, and a Paul Strisik landscape book. Variety. I painted from an image of the woodsy road/trail near my house. We'd decided to paint snow pictures in class. We missed one class the day after it snowed, and I did not call everyone to cancel class. They are all adults... and of course I new no one would risk it to come to class in Tupelo. So I just decided to send all my students a "spoof" email about painting en plein air. Here is what it said:   Hello everyone! Due to the snow  and ice I want us to do a little something different when ...