✅ How Kathleen’s unique “Multi-Step Approach” breaks down the intimidating process of large-scale painting into manageable stages — giving you the confidence to work with bold, gestural brushstrokes!
✅ The 7 crucial questions you MUST ask yourself before starting any large painting (skip these and you risk wasting hours of work...)
✅ Discover why painting imperfectly can actually make your work look MORE realistic — illustrated through Kathleen’s fascinating story about seeing two paintings side by side in Amsterdam
✅ A counterintuitive approach to “bold brushwork” that most artists get wrong (hint: it’s not about pushing down hard, but something entirely different!)
✅ Why Kathleen developed her transparent underpainting technique after working in watercolor — and how it gives oil paintings that coveted luminous glow (just like John Singer Sargent’s work!
✅ The truth about using black on your palette (despite what you may have been told!)
✅ A brilliant way to incorporate the palette knife and brush together for creating varied, interesting textures
✅ The “pre-mixing secret” that ensures your colors will harmonize perfectly on the canvas
✅ How to avoid the dreaded “cookie-cutter look” in your shapes — making your paintings feel more natural and alive
✅ Why the horizon line doesn’t have to be perfect (and how imperfection actually creates a more painterly feel!)
✅ A Kentucky-born artist’s guide to mixing natural greens that actually look real (Kathleen grew up surrounded by endless varieties of green!
✅ How to create color vibration that makes your painting come alive — the same technique Monet used to capture atmospheric light
✅ The surprising truth about “detail” in realistic paintings — and why avoiding it can actually make your work look more rea
✅ How to use reflections to create a pathway that leads viewers through your painting
✅ A clever way to manage your time and wet paint when working on larger canvases (two different approaches you can choose from!)
✅ Why Kathleen keeps a brush in one hand and a shop towel in the other during the underpainting stage (this simple trick makes correcting mistakes a breeze!)
✅ The importance of "being mindful of the whole" with every stroke you make — and how this awareness transforms your painting process
✅ A genius approach to creating atmospheric perspective that gives your paintings incredible depth
✅ The real reason larger paintings amplify our mistakes — and Kathleen’s systematic approach to preventing this common problem
✅ Why you should think of painting challenges like puzzles with multiple right answers (this mindset shift will make you a better artist!)
✅ TIPS to AVOID MAKING MUD: Three simple but crucial steps that keep your colors clean and vibrant
✅ How to assess your work at each stage of the process — ensuring you wind up with a painting that captures your original vision
✅ The story behind why Kathleen loved painting this wetland scene — and how understanding your emotional connection to a subject makes your paintings more powerful
…plus so many more tips and secrets!
