- Hi, I'm glad you could join me today and I thought today we'd do a canvas that's black, as you can see.

That's one of the most enjoyable type paintings that I have ever found in this method of painting.

So I tell ya what, let's have 'em run all the colors across the screen that you need at home to paint along with me.

While they're doin' that let me tell ya what I've done up here.

I have standard old prestretched canvas and, well I was gonna keep it a secret but I'm gonna go ahead and tell ya.

I've put a contact paper oval on here today and then I've painted the center of this with black gesso, allowed that to dry completely, and then on top of that I've put a mixture of alizarin crimson and thalo blue and as it works out from the center I've added more and more blue so it gets darker, darker, darker as it works out.

The warmest spot is right here in the center because I'm gonna have some little floaty clouds and stuff in there and I want that to be nice and bright.

And I thought today we'd do a little winter scene.

Somethin' that's warm and cold at the same time, have a warm spot in the sky and, well let's just do it, shoot.

Let's start out the day with a little one-inch brush go right into some titanium white.

This is a fantastic painting to do in public.

If ya ever wanna get out and amaze your friends and neighbors, let's go on up here, don't let 'em see ya put all the color on the canvas because we have all these transparent colors on here, it still looks black, and don't tell your friends and neighbors that you've done this, and then when you come up here with your brush and you say, well let's just do a little something right here they'll, they just go crazy because this color just comes alive.

See that beautiful lavender that's happening right there?

And I'm just taking the brush and doin' like so.

(brushing) As we work farther out it's gonna get darker and darker and darker There we go.

Still usin' little rocking strokes, we'll call 'em.

Just like so.

(brushing) Darker and darker and darker as it works away from that light spot.

(brushing) There, now you can do this as many times as you want to achieve a desired lightness but I would suggest strongly that each time you wash the brush (smacking) (laughs) beat it dry and start with clean color.

Otherwise you're gonna drag that dirty color right back into your light area and I don't think you're gonna be happy with that.

So, if this is our light area always start there and now we can begin working outward, outward.

(brushing) See, let it get darker and darker and darker as it works away.

There, see there, darker, darker, darker, darker.

(brushing) There we are.

Now you have to make a decision.

In your world how bright do you want the sky?

If you want it darker than this or lighter.

This is strictly an individual thing.

I just wanna show you how you can make some fantastic effects (smacking) using a few crazy brushes and, oh, we have a very limited palate today.

We're not using many colors and I wanna show you how you can do a fantastic little painting just easy, easy.

Now with a two-inch brush I'm gonna gently blend this together.

(brushing) Just blend it together (brushing) and all those little rocky strokes that you made you begin to see all kinds of little happy things that they make out here.

(smacking) Okay, let me clean the brush one more time.

We just use odorless paint thinner.

(smacking) There we go.

Go right back into my white.

Let's come right up here.

Maybe, maybe right in here.

(brushing) Watch here, watch here.

Still using that same little stroke.

Maybe this comes right on around.

Let's make it look like it's a big strong old floater livin' up here in the sky.

Just wherever you want a few.

Don't overdo though, just one or two is plenty.

Now then.

(smacking) Back to our big blending brush and very lightly, very lightly.

See, we can just blend that big old cloud right in.

(brushing) Isn't that somethin'?

You can see that sun-of-a-gun curve right around and go right into the center.

(brushing) And by allowing it to get bigger on this end it makes it look like this part is closer to ya and the other part's farther away.

(smacking) And maybe in our world, let's see here I'll take some thalo blue, alizarin crimson, (scraping) little black in there too, what the heck.

(scraping) Let me find a brush here, there's one.

I think I'll use a little fan brush.

Maybe in our world here there lives a little cloud.

(brushing) And he just sort of floats around here and has fun all day.

Just sort of let him come right off your brush wherever you want him to live, that's exactly where he should be.

(brushing) There he is.

And he's just a happy little cloud.

Give it a little bit of blending, tiny bit.

(smacking) Now we're gonna give you your bravery test.

So you can come right here, very lightly go across.

Very, very lightly.

Look at that.

And you've got a beautiful little cloud floating around in your sky.

(smacking) Okay, you passed the bravery test.

I'm just gonna use that same color, same color.

Pull it out flat, cut across and we get our little roll of paint right on the edge of the knife.

And maybe in our world there lives a beautiful little mountain (scratching) right up here in the sky (scratching) so that's where we'll put him.

(scratching) There he is.

See maybe there's a little bump there, wherever you want.

Maybe another little bump.

(scratching) Really push that paint right into the fabric.

Get strong with it, get tough.

We'll take our two-inch brush, grab that and pull it.

Just pull it.

Grab it here and pull.

See there, there we go.

And by using the brushstrokes here you can sort a lay out your whole mountain and get an idea of where you want highlights and shadows to be without being committed and you can change it.

Look at there, you can change it a hundred times.

I hope you can see those little brush strokes, see here?

But isn't it a fantastic way of laying out your mountain.

(brushing) And if they don't show up well on your set when you're doing this you'll understand exactly what I'm saying.

I'm gonna take some titanium white.

I'm gonna add the least little touch of black into it, just, I wanna dull it a little bit so it's not pure white.

I just wanna dull it down, gray it a little.

Pull it out as flat as we can get it, cut across, and we have our little roll of paint again, see.

It's important you pull it out and cut that little roll of pain off.

Now, no pressure, no pressure.

Let that little son-of-a-gun sort of float there.

Maybe we'll have another little bit goes right out here and just disappears.

(scraping) There comes a little one right down.

(grunts quietly) Sometimes it feels so good it hurts.

There, there we go.

(scraping) Doesn't painting do nice things for you though?

I love to paint.

It's one of the few things in my life I've never, never became bored with because I don't think you ever master it.

If ya live to be a thousand years old ya always know that your next painting is gonna be better.

(scraping) Maybe that's the challenge of it.

That's why it's so fascinating to me.

(scraping) There we are.

Not let's put some shadows in there.

For that we'll use some white, a little Prussian blue.

(scraping) Mix him up.

(scraping) There we are.

Cut off our little roll of paint, always that little roll of paint.

Put a little shadow, zoom, right back there.

Come right along here push that one back.

(quietly laughs) And what power that you can push mountains around.

Well, when I go home I can't push anything but the garbage but here I can push anything.

(tapping) That's the only thing I'm in charge of at home.

It sets and waits for me.

But it's nice to be needed.

There we are.

(scrapes) Okay, little shadow that lives right here.

(scratching) Now, good clean (smacking) dry brush, be sure it's dry.

If it's not dry it's gonna smoosh, I forgot a shadow.

You let me do that, didn't even holler at me.

Right here, we need the tiniest little indication of a shadow.

There, now we're all right.

(smacking) See if I'd have forgot that somebody'd wrote and told me.

(brushing) (smacking) All I'm doing is beating the paint off the brush.

(brushing) (smacking) I wanna create that misty effect down here at the base.

Very lightly, lift upward, softly, softly.

Up here, see there.

(brushing) On this side of the mountain follow these angles.

Always follow the angles.

Tap a little there, blend it up.

(smacking) That old mountain's just layin' out there floatin' in the mist.

(brushing) (smacking) Now you can play games and have fun.

Mountains are, oh they're fantastic.

Let's take a little more white, come right up here and maybe in our world there lives, yep, you're right, another little ridge or a mountain right in the foreground.

See by blending and creating that misty effect right there now this mountain will separate and become an individual.

(scraping) There's no doubt in your mind when you look at this that it's in the foreground.

But if it wasn't for that little misty area there you'd have to wonder.

You might figure yea it is, no it's not, whatever.

But by creating a little bit of mist now you know.

It separates, look at that.

(scraping) And you can keep on (smacking) till you've covered your whole canvas with layer after layer of mountain and that's not bad.

It's a super, super nice way to learn.

(smacking) Just knock off that excess paint.

(brushing) There we are.

(smacking) Now, once again, create our mist on this one.

Now you could put another range of mountains in here, and another and another and as many as you want.

(brushing) There we are.

(brushing) Very soft, very nice.

(brushing) Okay, now then.

(smacking) Enough mountains, let's do somethin' else.

I'm gonna take some black, Prussian blue.

Might as well mix us up a nice pile here.

Alizarin crimson.

(scrapes) Shoot, we can throw some Van Dyke brown there too, it doesn't matter.

So we have black, blue, crimson, and brown.

I'm gonna clean my knife.

And we'll grab this old fan brush.

That was our cloud making brush, it doesn't matter.

As long as it has color on it, dark color.

And maybe back in here there lives in our world some little distant trees that are far away.

(brushing) Now because they're dark against this light colored mountain they'll stand out.

There, see, and we'll just let 'em go right on over.

We don't know where they go, they just go.

(brushing) Now I want 'em to get a little larger on this end so it'll give the impression that this is going away (brushing) There, see there.

(brushing) To about there, whatever, we don't care.

Wherever you want 'em.

(brushing) Now then, I have several old fan brushes goin'.

I'm gonna take the least little touch of a light color.

This is just a little white.

I wanna touch right at the base and lift upward.

Right at the base so it looks like just hundreds of little trunks livin' back here.

Now if they come out a little too bright in your painting, all you have to do is rub 'em to pick up that dark color that's underneath and automatically it'll get darker and darker and darker as it blends together.

There, that's just enough to set it out a little bit.

Tell ya what, we have that color.

Go right into, right into some titanium white and maybe underneath here there's just some happy little snow covered, ice covered little bushes and stuff, see 'em?

Just push upward make that brush bend upward.

(brushing) There.

(brushing) (quietly grunts and brushing) Just one layer after another, however many you want.

(brushing) (sings a tune) Okay, now, let me find a clean brush.

That one's clean enough for our use.

And we'll take just a small amount of titanium white on the large brush.

I wanna create the illusion of some reflections under here.

There's color on the canvas, all you need is white.

Grab it and pull down, straight down.

It's important that you pull straight down.

(brushing) Straight down.

(brushing) Now that's mixing with that wet color that's underneath.

And very lightly you can just blend it.

Now then, we'll use some liquid white.

(scraping) Pull it out flat, right on your palate.

I'm gonna add the least little touch of thalo blue to it just to cool it down a little.

Pulled out very flat, cut across, and have a teeniest little roll of paint on there.

Oh, it's just so small.

(scraping) And very firmly, very firmly.

And sorta lay the knife down as you go so it (scraping) gets all the paint that's on the knife.

(quick scrapes) See push very firmly down.

(scratching) And you can make just all kinds of little things happen there.

Okay, well we got a nice painting goin' today.

Every once in a while things just work beautifully.

Let's take our old fan brush and go right back, right back into that same dark color and let's make a happy evergreen.

And he lives right about there.

(brushing) Back and forth.

(brushing) There he comes.

(brushing) Right over my mountain.

(brushing) There he goes.

Well, we know that mountain's back there.

If anybody asks you just tell 'em there's a fantastic mountain that lives right behind this tree.

You saw it in there.

Let's give him a little friend that lives right there.

We don't want him to be left behind.

(brushing) There, see?

There's a couple trees.

Hope you can see these.

They're very dark, very dark.

Maybe, yeah.

We've messed up the mountain so bad why not put one right across him?

There he comes.

Now, you're gonna pick up a lot of that white.

When you're doing this at home, if you have trouble making the paint stick over the top of all that white, I don't seem to be having too much trouble but if you do, take a little pain thinner.

Add a little paint thinner to your color and a thin paint will stick much easier right on top of all the snow and everything on there.

Make your life a little easier sometimes.

Okay, let's take a good old one-inch brush here.

I'm gonna go into, what am I gonna go into here?

We'll go into some, grab a little white, shoot, there's some thalo blue.

I'm lookin' for a pretty dark blue color there.

Pull the brush in one direction, firmly.

I wanna round one corner.

See how round that corner looks?

Now, when we head up here that corner, that corner's gonna be to the top, push upward.

(brushing) There, and by pushing upward it makes all those little leafy lookin' things happen.

I'm gonna bring that down a bit like that.

(brushing) And all we're doing, once again, is just throwin' in some dark colors so our light color will show up.

(brushing) Now then, we can take another one-inch brush, I'm gonna dip it into the liquid white, pull it through titanium white.

The liquid white is only on there to make the paint a little thinner so it'll stick.

That's the only reason it's on there.

Now, gonna put all kinds of little snow covered frosty bushes in here.

Just some pretty little things.

(quietly grunts) it should look like lace.

Do one little bush at a time.

Jack Frost has waived his wand and magic has happened here, beautiful.

(brushing) (grunts quietly) Maybe, right there, have another one.

(brushing) Boy, you know if you was out here this would be a nice spot.

But you'd get cold out here.

So maybe, maybe we should have us a little cabin out here so we could set by the fire and look at this beautiful scene and be warm.

So I'm gonna take the knife and scrape out a basic cabin shape.

Just take the knife, we'll just put a little cabin.

Maybe there was a trapper that lived out here years ago and this is all that's left of his little cabin.

Okay, take a little Van Dyke brown and do the back eave.

That's all there is to it.

Now, for the other side of the roof I'm just gonna use titanium white.

Snow's on it.

(makes wooshing noise with mouth) Okay, I'm gonna get the little knife.

It comes in a little handier for gettin' in these little spots.

Take a little brown and this is a little dark sienna, a little Van Dyke brown.

There we go, see?

Just pulled in our basic little cabin shape.

Basic shape, that's all we're looking for at this point.

(scrapes) Little dark sienna and white.

Still using the small knife.

Just barely grazin' the canvas, touch and pull it down.

(scrapes) We'll make the front of this cabin a little brighter.

(scrapes) Now, we can take, just make the indication here and there of a few old boards.

This is a rough cabin.

Take the knife, cut off our cabin, do a cabin-ectomy.

Just the way we want it.

Take a little bit of Van Dyke brown, put us in a little door.

We gotta have a little door.

People always yell at me 'cause I never put chimneys on my cabins so I'll just use a small edge of the knife put a little chimney on that one.

We take the least little touch of crimson.

There, just, but there's nobody home.

So there's snow on top of the chimney.

I normally don't bother to ever put chimneys and I get people writin' me and say, "Boy, that poor guys' freezin to death.

"Now give that poor fella a chimney."

So today we did.

Take a little titanium white.

Let's just put indication of a little bit a, a little snow path down there where he can walk.

Okay, back to my brush that has liquid white and titanium white and we can continue to put some happy little bushes right in here.

When you touch the canvas give it a little upward push.

Just a little upward push.

(brush tapping) There we go.

Now, I see somethin' that I should do.

This cabin here, on the other side of the roof, I didn't put any snow over there and there would be a layer of snow there.

And that'll just make it look a little better and it also makes your cabin stand out.

Okay, in these bushes here and there just wanna scrape through (scratching) and just put the indication of a few little sticks and twigs and all kinds a little things.

Let a few hang right over the path and pushes that path down into the painting more.

(scratching) Wherever you think they should be.

Okay, find me a fan brush, there's one.

Oh here's one that's already dirty.

I'm gonna take, this is white with a little thalo blue in it.

(brush swiping) Okay, lets go right up here.

I wanna put the indication here and there (brushing) of a little bit of snow on these trees.

Don't want much 'cause I don't wanna lose that beautiful contrast.

So it's just white with a little touch of thalo blue in it.

(brushing) There, and this sort of makes those limbs stand out a little bit and the arms on the tree.

(brush tapping) Boy, it looks cold.

Better get you a big Alaskan parka out.

I lived in Alaska I used to wear muk-luks.

And those are big canvas boots that come wee up, and boy they're fantastic.

They keep you from freezin' to death.

(scratching) Like them.

(swiping noise) Okay, tell ya what let's do.

Let's bring the camera right up here close and I'm gonna pull the contact paper off and let's take a look at what we have.

(paper peeling) See, I didn't pain the canvas, I left the canvas white.

So when you pull this son-of-a-gun off (paper peeling) boy does it stand out.

I mean it really stands out.

But now when you're doing this at home, maybe you wanna paint this a different color like a light blue or a tan or anything that makes you feel good, there's a million different things you can do.

And I use a lot of ovals only because that's a nice shape to work with.

But I have letters from people who are using octogons and squares and just any shape that the mind can imagine.

And when you're doing yours sorta look.

Make a determination.

One of the things that I've found, place mats are excellent for getting shapes.

I used place mats and lay it on the contact paper and take an X-Acto knife or somethin' and cut around it and then glue it on.

But that works very, very well.

Okay, I'm goin' right back in to that dark color that I had.

Load a lot of paint into the bristles.

And maybe in our world here let's let this one tree, just this one tree, that's the only one I want, escape.

He's gonna slip right outta the bounds of this oval and live right up here.

(brushing) There he is.

Just that one little tree.

Now we'll take, we'll take some of our thalo blue and white and if you have trouble making this stick add a little bit of the liquid white to it.

That'll make it a little thinner and it'll stick and we can come back in here (brushing) and just throw on a few little highlights.

(splashing) I'll go into a touch of the, touch of the paint thinner right into some titanium white and I'm gonna load this liner brush full of color.

This is very thin, it's like ink, and roll the brush, brings it to a nice sharp point.

And maybe here and there let's just put a happy little stick or two that's all frosty and, oh Jack Frost has really worked on these too.

Just here and there, don't go too wild with 'em.

Too many of 'em don't look right.

And maybe up through here you can make out a little, these little details, they're nice.

There we go.

(splashing) I think we're about to the point we can call this one finished and sign it.

I'm gonna take a little red, thin it down with thinner, and let's sign this one right about here.

Sincerely hope you've enjoyed this one.

It'll show you how much fun you can have using some black gesso, a little contact paper, and imagination, and from all of us here, happy painting and God bless.

(happy instrumental music)