Submissions From mchesleyjohnson.blogspot.com

 "You can do a lot on your own. But if you'd like guidance, a location scout, or instruction, you'll need a teacher." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Santa Fe is, in my mind, still one of the best places to shop for art in the US." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I recently received a new product that my readers will find useful - the Palette Garage." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Torrit Grey is given away free with a purchase of Gamblin products at your local art supply store." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Gamvar is a great solution for the busy painter." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Because the sun is always in motion, the quality of sunlight varies constantly, and there are times when the quality of this light is better for painting than others. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Art fairs, especially the juried kind, are a good venue for artists." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I like to attack the learning process the same way I do a lunch buffet - in an organized manner." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "If you're concerned about painting outdoors alone, you should consider joining a group for plein air painting or form one. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "You are better off doing a quick color sketch to get the color notes, a value sketch to get a handle on values, and then take photos for all the details." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "In a couple of galleries I visited, the salesperson didn't even say hello." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "How do you get successful shots of your work - and are you sure that they do, in fact, look close to the original?" (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "My tourist who said paintings changed the way he sees had it exactly right. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Phthalo is the painter's equivalent of nitroglycerine." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "It's so beautiful, I often use it in the next painting." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Where you paint, when you paint and how you paint will make some easels better for you than others." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "All that said, painters look at varnishing as an unwelcome task." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I had over 90 responses to my survey on buyer demographics." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "If you paint a lot, as I do, the paintings eventually start pushing up the rafters." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "So, as a professional artist, how is social media working for me?  Frankly, it's not." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Sometimes I get questions about reusing canvas.  My short answer for this is, Don't." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I can sell my demos and sketches unframed, but any finished painting really needs to go in a frame to look, well, finished." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "The bottom line is, if you're trying to make a living at this, you want to get paid a reasonable rate for your work - and to make sure it gets out the door at whatever price." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "As I began to explore design, I found that I was hurting myself by sticking with the standard formats." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Outdoor painters work on many different surfaces." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I hadn't expected to stir up such a hornet's nest with my last post on giclees." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "It seems that many painters, as well as the galleries that represent them, are turning to giclee prints. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Sometimes you just want to keep something for yourself." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Unless you've expressly given it away, you do own the copyright to your images." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Light is both the blessing and the curse of the plein air painter. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Now I'll give you the secret the masters don't hand down." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Discovery mode is something we should all stretch for.  It's what makes us grow as painters." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 " I want to continue to be painter who teaches - and not a teacher who paints." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "There are basically two ways of creating a plein air painting." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "We want our unspoiled, quiet spaces to do our work in, but we also want access to these spots - and so do a lot of other people. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "The light is there, and you can capture it." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Ultimately, you must do everything you can to capture the grandness." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "You can watch all the videos, read all the books and take all the workshops - and get a virtual MFA in the process - but it's not going to make you a better painter unless you practice on your own." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "So what, exactly, are the problems with photos? A lot: Values, color and perspective." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "In my workshops, I make a joke about my "magic" cropping tool, but you'd be amazed at how many painting problems can be solved with a couple of pieces of cardboard." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "But I praise Ross and Kinkade because they help people work toward their dreams." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Sometimes when I have a new group of students and we talk about color in the plein air landscape, questions arise." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "A prettier grey can be made by mixing a color with its near-complement instead." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "One question we had today was, How do you keep from using too many colors?" (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "People like to buy the personality, not just the product. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "But how effective is social media, really, and is it an effective marketing tool for painters?" (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I've gone the other route - working with editors and publishing houses - and although we've always had a good relationship, I've never been able to do the project exactly the way I wanted it done." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "Creating the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface is, indeed, an accomplishment." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "My advice is - don't worry about the faces. Just make a good painting." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "I like to think of marketing as tending a garden." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "One of the most important skills a painter can learn is that of comparing relationships between shapes." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "When I teach my students, I tell them that what's important is value, temperature and hue - in that order." (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "A successful painting is built on large, simple shapes. " (Michael Chesley Johnson)

 "In a phrase, plein air is all about learning to see - and then learning not to see so much." (Michael Chesley Johnson)