Kathy Anderson: Bringing The Garden Indoors

Throughout history, artists have certainly taken notice and captured the beauty, radiance, and grace of the garden.

Monet’s Water Lilies and the gardens at Giverny…

…Van Gogh’s Sunflowers…

…Georgia O’Keeffe’s Red Poppy…

But painting flowers is difficult for most people because they’ve never been shown the right ways to depict the glowing light on the petals and leaves, and how to capture the emotion within flowers.

 The truth is that anyone can discover how to paint captivating garden scenes.

“Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.” — Claude Monet

If you love gardens and flowers, you can paint a beautiful garden scene.

Few artists express and instill this love in their paintings better than Kathy Anderson.

“Take me to the tallest mountains, and I’ll appreciate their majesty. Let me paint the smallest flower, and I’ll be truly happy.” — Kathy Anderson

Kathy Anderson is an artist renowned for her garden still life and floral paintings.

As a child in her little yellow gardening shoes, Kathy would plant smiling pink daisies and bouncing purple hydrangeas…

…flirtatious blue peonies and exuberant yellow sunflowers.

Kathy learned the peace, tranquility, and joy that come from spending time in the garden…

…and she learned to translate that feeling onto the canvas when she studied under Richard Schmid (considered one of the greatest living American realist painters).

For 10 years, she focused on improving her craft, learning the “ins and outs” of painting from life...

…and how to capture the movement, energy, and personality of the different plants that make up a great garden scene.

Since then, Kathy has not only become a highly sought-after teacher, she’s also become a critically renowned painter, winning awards such as:

• Oil Painters of America National Juried Exhibition — Best Signature Member Award of Excellence
• National Arts Club Members Show — President’s Award
• Bayonet Farm Annual Plein Air Competition — First Prize 

While collecting awards for her paintings, she’s also traveled the United States, painting in some of the most awe-inspiring locations this country has to offer.

And yet, despite painting at the base of giants like the Grand Tetons, Kathy prefers to keep her eyes “closer to the ground.”

What truly makes her feel alive is coming across a water-colored trillium or a nodding violet in the wild.

It’s what she loves to paint, and loves to teach.

As she paints, she narrates her step-by-step process — giving you an insider’s peek into the thoughts and creative decisions behind each and every brushstroke.

Her enthusiasm is infectious, and it’s impossible not to let it influence your own paintings.

Kathy believes that she can teach anyone to paint a beautiful garden scene.

You don’t need to be an expert painter…

…you just need to fall in love with what you’re painting and follow Kathy’s step-by-step process.

If you come alive when you see spring flowers, this video will help you master the art of painting the flowers you love.

Let’s take a closer look at what you’ll learn in this video:

• How to design a perfect garden scene before you begin painting
• How Kathy chooses the types of plants to use in her paintings
• Why it’s OK to start painting before you know exactly how everything will look (and how to deal with that uncertainty)
• Why Kathy doesn’t worry about the focal point of her paintings when she gets started (unlike almost every other painter out there)
• One nifty trick to help you test out ideas without making a brushstroke on the canvas (this one will save you from so many mistakes)
• How to use a special technique to build a sense of movement in your paintings that enchants the viewer and reveals a sense of beauty beyond the canvas
• How much detail to paint into your scene (and why less detail is often more)
• The go-to book that Kathy believes all painters must have if they want to understand how color truly works on canvas
• How you can create affordable canvases at home (or where you can buy ones that are a great value!)
• The color patterns that get Kathy more excited than anything else (hint: the color is not on the flowers)
• Why mistakes are always fixable (and why you should always be searching for them)
• The common mistake most new painters make when putting paint on their palettes
• The exact paints and brushes Kathy uses to make her paintings come to life
• How Kathy creates a background to set the proper tone for an entire painting
• What music can teach you about painting garden scenes
• How experienced and novice painters treat mistakes differently (and the simple thing you can do to be more like the pros)
• Why the stems of your plants are one of the most important, yet most often overlooked, parts of your paintings
• Why the pros compliment Kathy for creating flowers that appear “transparent” (and how you can do the same)
• The step-by-step process for figuring out what’s wrong when you feel your painting is “off,” but you don’t know why
• A special technique for creating delightfully realistic dahlias (hint: it requires using the paintbrush for something other than painting)
• The difference between painting cut flowers versus planted flowers
• What to use in your drawing to make sure your proportions are just right before you begin your real painting
• Why people struggle with painting leaves (and how you can paint them right every time)
• The proper way to paint sunflowers, daisies, and other flowers with large, circular centers
• What to do if you can’t finish your painting in one day (flowers are living creatures, so their appearance changes by the minute)