Studio Workshop with David Dunlop: Painting Skies

This four-part series featuring artist-lecturer David Dunlop (of the Emmy-winning PBS-aired Landscapes Through Time with David Dunlop) is an outstanding resource for both artists and art appreciators who would like to learn more about the nuances of landscape painting. Stressing that landscape painting is not about making maps or conveying empirical information, but rather about capturing a psychological effect or subjective feeling, Dunlop leads the viewer through fascinating discussions of works by Dutch master Jacob van Ruisdael and renowned landscape artist J.M.W. Turner, underscoring changing relationships over time between sky and land, light and dark, near and far, etc. Even Dunlop's demonstrations on mixing colors are as much about aesthetic principles as practical advice for painters. Part three in the series is very much a hands-on class in creating a sense of motion in landscapes, while the final section, titled “Luminous Skies with Diffused Light,” is another master class with inspiring fine-arts talk. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)