Online Art School «Artefacto»
NEW ONLINE PROGRAM
by DAN MONDLOCH
The Art of Light and Shadow in Watercolor
Learn the proven process that helps you bring depth, clarity, and atmosphere to any artwork. Create 4 stunning paintings, discover how to see light like an artist, simplify any scene, and make your watercolors glow – even if you’ve struggled with values, composition, or consistency before
LIFETIME ACCESS |
NEW ONLINE PROGRAM
by DAN MONDLOCH
The Art of Light and Shadow in Watercolor
Learn the proven process that helps you bring depth, clarity, and atmosphere to any artwork. Create 4 stunning paintings, discover how to see light like an artist, simplify any scene, and make your watercolors glow – even if you’ve struggled with values, composition, or consistency before
LIFETIME ACCESS |
Painting becomes easier, freer, and more natural when you finally understand how light works.
In this program, you’ll learn not just to copy a scene – but to truly see like an artist. Award-winning plein air artist Dan Mondloch, known for his structured yet intuitive teaching style, will guide you step by step through the process of analyzing light and shadow, building value structure, and connecting shapes to create unity and atmosphere.
Based on a method refined through 200+ plein air paintings, combining modern tools (digital value studies and color mapping in Photoshop) with traditional watercolor craftsmanship, and featuring interactive exercises, the program will give you a proven system for interpreting and simplifying any image with confidence.
This program will best suit artists who:
- See that their paintings look flat or chaotic but don’t know how to create depth and structure
- Admire magnificent watercolors radiating light and wish to create such effects in their artworks
- Often start painting without a clear plan and end up frustrated with the result
- Struggle with color mixing, tonal balance, and defining light direction
- Want to simplify scenes, but don’t know where to begin.
Dan about the program...
Program Table of Contents
15 video lessons (total 10h 45min)
Module 1. Light and Shadow Basics
Flashlight. Distance and angle of light sour
See how the position and distance of a light source change the character of shadows — their length, direction, and intensity. Through a simple but powerful prop demonstration, you’ll learn to recognize front, side, top, and back lighting, and understand how time of day transforms a scene.
Types of Lighting
Explore the four main types of natural lighting — backlit, frontlit, side-lit, and top-lit — and understand how each affects form, value, and atmosphere. Through clear visual examples, you’ll learn to identify the direction of light, read shadows, and keep illumination consistent across your paintings.
Game: What type of lighting
Learn how light direction and sun height affect the length and angle of shadows, and explore how side, front, top, and back lighting change mood and composition. Through simple demos and games, practice identifying the light source in any image to keep lighting consistent and believable in your paintings.
Painting What You See, Not What You Know
Train your eye to paint what you truly observe, not what you think you see. Learn to spot how color, value, and shape relationships work together and how mental shortcuts can distort them. This shift in perception helps you paint more intuitively and capture the true visual essence of a subject.
How to Make a Value Study
Discover how to simplify any scene into three main value groups – light, mid, and dark. Create quick black-and-white studies to test design and balance before adding color, and learn how strong value structure gives clarity and confidence to every painting you start.
Module 2. Landscape – Connecting Shapes and Light
Learn to connect trees, buildings, and land through unified shadow shapes for better rhythm and balance. Practice painting skies, branches, and sunlight effects that lead the viewer’s eye naturally through the scene, turning simple references into cohesive, atmospheric landscapes.
Module 3. Seascape – Texture, Rocks, and Reflected Light
Apply light-and-shadow principles to dynamic seascapes. Practice painting rocks, waves, and reflected light using both soft and hard edges to create realistic textures. Learn to simplify complex scenes by grouping shapes into shared values, bringing order and movement to coastal compositions.
Module 4. Cityscape – Light in Architecture
Use light and shadow to define architecture, perspective, and space in urban scenes. Practice keeping geometry consistent with vanishing points, and explore how light on clouds and atmosphere enhances mood. Learn to balance strong structure with airy light for sunlit, harmonious cityscapes.
Module 5. Figures – Light, Volume, and Expression
Integrate figures naturally into a scene, avoiding harsh outlines and the “halo effect”. Practice mixing natural skin tones and modeling rounded forms with subtle light transitions. Learn to paint both sunlit and shaded figures that feel connected to their environment with depth and realism.
What you’ll achieve during this program:
01
Learn to identify where the light is coming from and how it changes the appearance of every object
02
Discover how to simplify complex scenes into three main value groups, creating harmony and depth
03
Practice across 4 full subjects – Landscape, Seascape, Cityscape, and Figures – learning to apply the same principles in every genre
04
Understand how sun height affects shadow length and how to use cast shadows to anchor objects naturally
Here's what you'll paint with Dan along this program!
Flip through the pictures left \ right
Meet your instructor
Dan Mondloch
- Dan Mondloch is an award-winning, third-generation landscape painter from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
- After earning his BFA in Painting and Drawing from Saint Cloud State University in 2007, Dan built a career that blends art and teaching. He has led workshops and artist residencies across the United States, sharing his deep love for light, atmosphere, and the landscape.
- His work has been featured in PleinAir Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, and Artists on Art, among others.
- A two-time recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant, Dan has also presented at the PleinAir Convention & Expo in San Diego and Santa Fe.
- His paintings have earned multiple Best of Show awards at major plein air events, including Paint Du Nord, Plein Air Hudson, and Grand Marais Plein Air.
We offer different plans
Standard
Perfect for independent artists who prefer to learn and progress at their own pace
Access only to program materials:
- 15 video lessons (total 10h 45min)
- 4 complete watercolor paintings by the end of the program
- Interactive exercises: Flashlight Demo, Find the Light Source game etc.
- 24/7 access from any location at your own pace
- Access to the moderated students community on WhatsApp
- Official certificate of completion
- Final project (your own painting)
- LIFETIME access to all video lessons
- Bonus: 100 ArtiCoins
Standard Plus
Designed for artists who want to explore techniques in greater depth and detail
Includes everything from the Standard Plan, plus:
- 4 recorded Zoom sessions with Dan Mondloch
- 4 additional paintings to your collection!
- Watch how Dan explains, demonstrates, and answers students’ questions (in the record)
- Learn from group discussions and painting critiques (in the record)
- LIFETIME access to all Zoom recordings for continued study and inspiration
- Bonus: 150 ArtiCoins
❌ No access to live sessions
Standard
Perfect for independent artists who prefer to learn and progress at their own pace
Access only to program materials:
- 15 video lessons (total 10h 45min)
- 4 complete watercolor paintings by the end of the program
- Interactive exercises: Flashlight Demo, Find the Light Source game etc.
- 24/7 access from any location at your own pace
- Access to the moderated students community on WhatsApp
- Official certificate of completion
- Final project (your own painting)
- LIFETIME access to all video lessons
- Bonus: 100 ArtiCoins
Standard Plus
Designed for artists who want to explore techniques in greater depth and detail
Includes everything from the Standard Plan, plus:
- 4 recorded Zoom sessions with Dan Mondloch
- 4 additional paintings to your collection!
- Watch how Dan explains, demonstrates, and answers students’ questions (in the record)
- Learn from group discussions and painting critiques (in the record)
- LIFETIME access to all Zoom recordings for continued study and inspiration
- Bonus: 150 ArtiCoins
❌ No access to live sessions
About Artist’s Method
Dan Mondloch teaches watercolor as a language of light — clear, structured, and deeply connected to observation.
He believes every scene begins not with objects, but with patterns of light and shadow that give the painting its strength and emotion.
Through value studies and simple visual design, he shows how to see clearly and simplify complexity into a few confident shapes.
His calm, step-by-step explanations help you paint with logic, not guesswork — so your process feels peaceful and your results more intentional.
How is our program organized?
BEFORE PROGRAM
Full learning program
List of learning program materials
Friendly community of beginner and professional artists
AT PROGRAM
Recorded video lessons
Watch lessons at your own pace
Closed students' chat
AFTER PROGRAM
Certificate of completion
Own portfolio
Skills and knowledge practiced
Part of our art community
International and artistic community with a dedicated Community Manager!
- Students support and inspire each other every day
- They share advice, discuss the drawings and give feedback on them
- Like-minded people discuss various art-related topics there
- They feel at home with their friends
This community is moderated by a dedicated professional Community Manager and our Support Team!
Certificate of completion
Upon completion of the learning program for the students of all plans 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.
You have no risks – we support you!
No risk for you*
In case after 1–2 lessons of the coursе you realize that is not for you, YOU WILL GET YOUR MONEY BACK!
*within 14 days after payment
Freedom & Mobility
Make your own schedule and go through the lessons at a comfortable pace – whenever and wherever you like
Which materials do you need for the learning program?
Typical, high quality supplies will work great for this class - use brands and materials you are familiar and comfortable with. You are free to use whatever you like.
- Paper: Arches 300lb rough or 140lb cold press and also rough texture. Arches 140lb cold press is a very commonly used and recommended paper
- Paint: I use mostly Winsor & Newton watercolor paints as well as a few other brands. I would strongly recommend having white gouache on your palette as well.
- Brushes: I use rounds, both synthetic and natural hair. One or two for each size group is fine.
- Other: Quiller palette, Quiller Color Wheel, Continuous Sprayer, HB pencil and kneaded eraser, Plexiglas, Water container, Natural sponge for wetting paper, 4 bulldog clips, Paper towels, Masking Tape
Frequently asked questions
Contact us
For customer care:
info@artefactoschool.online
Our working hours:
Monday — Friday
7 am — 6 pm Central European Time (CET)
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