John introduces the weathered barn and silo he will paint four separate times — golden hour, moonlight, snow, and fog — using the same three primary colors, plus black and white. One reference photograph. Four completely different days.

The paper and why he gessoes it. The five tubes: Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Ivory Black. Brushes, palette knives, mahl stick, gray scale, and the clear acrylic sheet he lays over his studies to judge value. Plus the photo reference itself,  and why he chose it.

Mixing the main complementary colors, then toning the surface a reddish-green, chosen deliberately to support the mood before a single stroke of the subject goes down. It dries immediately, so you can keep working.

Drawing the subject with paint, using a grid on both the study and the surface. Perspective and horizon line for believable buildings. In this chapter you’ll draw along with John, taking the time to do it properly, because the rest of the painting depends on it.

Laying clear acetate over the reference to match color as you mix, then wiping it clean. Lighter or darker, warmer or cooler. Why can a mixture look brown on the palette and read green in the painting? And how to use black as a dark blue.

Flat block-in of the basic shadow tones, to be modulated later for interest.

The foreground dark field, and the surrounding objects warmed by the low sun.

A dramatic sky that is darker than you think. Warms against cools, subtle value shifts, soft edges, and smooth brushwork. The main tree is built with the same restraint.

 Bringing the painting toward a higher finish. The light side of the barn goes in here, and you’ll be surprised how dark “sun-drenched light” actually is. Shadows developed, highlights added to the buildings.

The final details and highlights that bring the scene to life.

Building the night sky, which contains far more black than you’d expect, and mixing the shadow colors that hold the scene together.

Think dark, and skip the details. The white surface will lie to you and insist you’ve gone too far. You haven’t.

The sky first, with subtle clouds and color variation, then everything that reaches up into it. Color relativity does real work here: some objects must lift against the dark sky, others sink and match it.

The large expanse of grass, laid in early so every value that follows can be judged against something real.

Covering the surface and developing the objects that carry interest, with dimension built from color and value shifts

Details and highlights — always remembering these are cool, dark, moonlit colors, low in contrast except where drama is intended. Including John’s guidance on fencepost heights.

How to observe snow on location, and how to mix for it. Color from everything nearby reflects into snow, and snow throws light straight back onto everything in return.

 Flat block-in of the basic shadow tones. Start simple, and watch color temperature closely.

A smooth, even gradation from deeper blue overhead to lighter, warmer blue as you approach the horizon — laid in the way John prefers, without visible brushwork.

Midground established, then foreground. The tree blending softly into the sky, wispy clouds melting into it. The barn turning through changes of angle with slight shifts of temperature and value. The main tree given solid structure inside soft foliage shapes, shrubs developed, foreground filled with reflected sky. Plus the five tools John uses to guide a viewer through a painting.

Adjusting value and color as more is added. Details, highlights, dimension — and the frosty haze that settles into the trees.

Bringing dimension to a snowy field so it reads as ground rather than paper.

Why nearly every mixture wants a little Ivory Black in it to produce that neutral, silvery air. How to judge value when fog strips away contrast and detail.

 The first full pass across the remaining elements of the scene.

Watching for value and color adjustments as the painting fills in, and knowing when a subtle painting is finished.

 John makes the case for painting every kind of weather, every kind of “mood.” Not to produce framed work but to learn. As he shares samples of his paintings, you’ll be encouraged to explore and transform your work with endless possibilities!