Course "Light and Dynamics: Painting Brightness That Survives Every Layer" with Richard Thorn

A New Course by Richard Thorn

"Light and Dynamics:

Painting Brightness That Survives Every Layer"

You lay a clean first wash. It glows. Then you add a second layer, a third, and the brightness dies. Richard Thorn builds color, texture, and tone in every pass, so your first wash stays alive under everything that follows.

4 paintings. 4 video lessons. Lifetime access.

Your brightest wash should be your first. Everything after that should protect it.

"Retaining the intensity of colour. That's the most important thing." Richard Thorn

Richard does not separate color, tone, and texture into different washes. He applies all three in a single pass. Each layer adds depth without replacing what came before. The brightness of your first wash stays visible because you control where you cover and where you leave it exposed.

You lay a clean first wash. It looks right. Then you add shadows and detail, and the whole thing turns dull. You need a method that keeps your initial color alive through every layer.

Grass, leaves, water. You try to paint each one, the work gets tight. You need a way to create natural texture without drawing every blade.

With the video on, it works. On your own, the painting goes flat. You need to hear why each decision is made, not what to do next.

You mask the whites, peel off the fluid, and the edges look mechanical. You want light on water and foliage that looks natural.

Richard's approach

He treats every wash as a three-part move: color, texture, and tone, applied together.

Richard starts with an intense first wash. Cadmium yellow pale and May green, mixed to full strength. This is the foundation. Everything that follows goes over it, but the brightness stays visible because he controls how much he covers and where he leaves the early color exposed.

Then he builds: stipple brushes for foliage, spatter for organic shapes, dry-over-dry washes for tonal depth. Each pass adds information without erasing what came before.

I'm not unique in using stipple or spattering, but I use it extensively in my paintings. It is my sort of personal kind of way of painting.

Richard Thorn

The method repeats. The subjects change.

Lesson 1. Layering Textures

A summer field with a large tree, foreground wildflowers, and a distant tree line. You build up foliage and vegetation texture through successive stipple and spatter washes, use gouache to create highlights, and shape form using shadows and dark areas.

Lesson 2. Creating Light

A shaded country lane with trees, fence, and a path leading to a sunlit meadow. You use shadow to create contrast and learn how to use colour to create light and warmth that shines through the canopy.

Lesson 3. Creating Distance and Space

A moorland vista with dramatic clouds, distant hills, and a patchwork of fields. You use tones to create distance, compose to build a sense of open space, and learn where to minimise detail so the eye travels to the horizon.

Lesson 4. Composition

A contre-jour scene: trees and a stream with light coming toward you. You use composition to create dynamics, vary tones to add energy, and learn how to paint into the light so silhouettes hold color, not just black.

@thornart2

"Painting is like handwriting. It has to be your own." Richard Thorn

Signature Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolors (RI). Two-time RI Best Watercolor Award winner.
Prize for painting at the 2019 Qingdao International Watercolor Exhibition.
Works exhibited and sold in galleries across the UK, USA, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Author of "Light in the Landscape" and "Trees in the Landscape".

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Brightness that lasts

Your first wash stays visible under every layer.

(02)

Texture without overworking

Stipple and spatter create grass, foliage, and water. You stop painting every blade.

(03)

Three things in every wash

Each pass adds color, texture, and tone at the same time.

(04)

Whites without masking fluid

Spatter and brushwork preserve light naturally.

(05)

Confidence to change the reference

You learn when to extend a distance, reshape a tree, or leave out a detail.

(06)

A method that transfers

The same approach works on any landscape. Four paintings prove it.

During your studies, you receive personal feedback from professionals and the support of a creative community of like - minded people — learning becomes easier, more inspiring and more interesting.

(01)

Get individual written feedback on your paintings

3 detailed reviews of your final paintings + 1 creative task within the first 75 days.
Professional feedback from a curator - Olga Karlsson (Premium plan)
Expert critique from an academically trained fine artist.

(02)

Join our international and artistic community

Connect with like-minded artists, share advice and feedback.
Join daily discussions on drawings and art-related topics.
Enjoy a welcoming space moderated by our Community Manager and Support Team.

(03)

Certificate of completion for Premium Plan

Upon completion of the course for the students of Premium plan we issue a certificate. The certificate could be used as a proof of your qualification's upgrade at work (if it is related to arts) and for your private affairs as a recognition of your mastery in painting.

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100% guarantee.

If after 1 to 2 lessons within the first week this approach is not for you, you get your money back. *within 14 days after payment

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Freedom and Flexibility

Access any time. Go at your pace. Smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

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Materials for the COURSE

You probably have most of what you need.

Paper: Arches 640gsm rough. Richard recommends the best quality paper you can get. It retains color and handles multiple washes.

Paints: Richard works with Schmincke, Sennelier, Old Holland, and Winsor and Newton. Standard palette: Cerulean Blue, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellows, Naples Yellow, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Payne's Grey, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Orange, Hooker's Green, Sap Green, Oxide of Chromium, Raw and Burnt Sienna, Raw and Burnt Umber, Permanent Mauve, Cobalt Violet Light, Cobalt Turquoise Light, Viridian. A full list of specialty colors is included in the course.

Brushes: Pure sable for washes. Nylon for detail. Stiff acrylic for spattering and irregular edges. Flat brushes, rigger brushes, cut-off brushes, and fan brushes for textural effects.

These are suggestions. Use what you already own.

FAQ

What level is this course for?

Do I need Richard's first course ("Tonal Values in Expressive Seascapes")?

Can I use paints from a single brand?

Can I study at my own pace?

How do I pay for the course?

What happens after payment?

Still have questions?

Our team is here to help. Not sure which plan is right for you? Just reach out — we'll guide you in a few minutes.

You have watched a sunlit path disappear into a meadow and thought: I want to paint that light.

Then you added a second wash, a third, and the brightness was gone.

The light was in the first wash you covered, the texture you tried to paint by hand, the reference you copied instead of composed.

"Hopefully after you have seen the course you will have a greater appreciation for the clarity of the washes, the use of intense colours for your original washes, and the importance of building up textures." - Richard Thorn