Wyland's Art Studio

Used effectively, effective composition provides a structure that leads the viewer's eye in a particular way for a variety of different effects.

By using appropriate blending techniques, colors pass imperceptibly from one shade or degree of intensity to another.Wyland demonstrates how mixing and blending techniques can work together to create a textured look.

Wyland uses the seemingly discordant image of a sea turtle to create an image of harmony. Using proportion, composition, color, patterns, and movement, the artist achieves a pleasing harmonious visual work of art.

An important aspect of color theory is contrast -- or using the difference between colors for a heightened effect. Wyland explores contrasting shades to create a vivid painting of a mermaid.

Many artists spend their lives working to understand the nature, structure, or essence of a thing. Wyland applies his interest in form and negative space to give the viewer a unique perspective on this iconic image of the sea.

Color may be the foundation of all art, but it is light, shade, and tone that bring a painting to life. Wyland uses tone for dramatic effect as he follows the subtle changes of light along a pristine river hidden within the Rocky Mountains.

Landscapes offer artists excellent opportunities to refine and hone their ability to create a visual sense of depth through brushstrokes, colors, and composition. Mastering this skill, however, takes extensive practice and patience. Wyland showcases this technique by painting Hawaii's famed Na Pali Coast.

Wyland demonstrates a variety of brush techniques to create an abstract tropical sunset painting. Throughout this episode, he explains the benefits of thick and thin applications of color and a variety of brush strokes. Skills acquired here may be refined for further practice.

In broken color painting one or more shades of paints are applied in distinct layers to impart an interesting look to a surface. Animal portraits provide a wonderful opportunity to incorporate techniques of broken color as Wyland so aptly demonstrates in his portrait of a mother and baby Koala basking in the afternoon sun.

Unity, balance and movement are the basis of a carefully composed painting. A range of artistic decisions proceeds first from the identification of a focal point. Wyland employs a range of contrasts between light and dark to find a rhythm that supplies a unique energy to a sunset landscape.

Chiaroscuro refers to a strong juxtaposition of light and shade to enhance the dramatic aspects of a painting. In this portrait of a regal lion, Wyland uses the interplay of shading to establish dramatic and dominant nature of these beautiful apex hunters.

Oregon's Mount Hood rises sharply in the distance, as a sprawling lake fills the foreground in this iconic painting of the Pacific Northwest. Wyland uses the scene as a study of vanishing points, horizon lines, and linear perspective. Artists use the illusion of space and distance on a flat surface by picturing the canvas surface as an "open window" through which to see the painted world.