‘Art-ist Class’:
INTERMEDIATE LANDSCAPE OIL PAINTING:
Creating Colour, Light & Atmospheric Depth
~ An 8‑Part Course ~
Saturday, January 20rd - Saturday, March 13th: 11:30am ~ 2:30pm + EXHIBITION
This course is intended for artists with previous landscape painting experience who want to develop a more sophisticated understanding of colour, light, and atmospheric depth. Over eight sessions, participants will explore how warm and cool colours influence the perception of distance, how light and shadow create atmosphere, and how subtle changes in tone, contrast, and detail can transform a landscape. Through a series of focused painting exercises, students will experiment with colour temperature, atmospheric perspective, edge control, and composition before dedicating the final two and a half classes to a single, resolved painting. The emphasis is on moving beyond simply reproducing a landscape to making deliberate artistic choices that create depth, mood, and a stronger sense of place.
These Intermediate Landscape Oil Painting “Art-ist” classes are about more than refining technique. They encourage painters to develop their own visual language and approach the landscape with greater confidence, curiosity, and artistic independence. Drawing on his experience as an international exhibiting artist, Christopher shares how artists interpret what they see, manipulate colour and light, simplify complex subjects, and make decisions that strengthen a painting. Through demonstrations, experimentation, individual guidance, and group discussion, participants will deepen their technical understanding while developing the confidence to create landscapes that are distinctly their own.
Course Highlights:
Class 1 – The Temperature of Colour: Advancing & Receding
We begin by exploring one of the most powerful tools in landscape painting: the relationship between warm and cool colours. Through a series of small painting exercises, participants investigate how colour temperature influences the perception of depth, with warmer colours often appearing to advance and cooler colours receding. We examine how value, saturation, and contrast can reinforce or challenge these relationships, developing a more sophisticated understanding of how colour creates space.
Class 2 – One Landscape, Two Temperatures
Can the same landscape communicate two entirely different spatial experiences? Working from a single reference image, participants create two small landscape studies. The first uses a warm foreground and cool background, while the second reverses these relationships. By adjusting value, contrast, and colour intensity, students discover how colour temperature can be manipulated to create depth, atmosphere, and visual interest. We compare the results and discuss why certain combinations are more convincing than others.
Class 3 – Atmospheric Perspective: Painting Distance
How do we create the illusion of kilometres of distance on a flat canvas? Participants explore atmospheric perspective through a series of overlapping landscape forms, examining how distant objects typically lose contrast, saturation, and definition. Using a limited palette, we paint a landscape of receding hills, trees, or fields, concentrating on subtle shifts in value, colour temperature, and edge control. The emphasis is on creating a convincing sense of depth without relying on excessive detail.
Class 4 – The Colour of Light: Warm Highlights & Cool Shadows
Light does more than illuminate a landscape; it transforms every colour within it. Through short painting studies, participants examine how the temperature and direction of light influence illuminated surfaces and shadows. We explore the relationships between warm light and cool shadows, as well as situations where these relationships are reversed. Students experiment with creating luminous passages, rich shadows, and atmospheric effects while maintaining strong tonal relationships and colour harmony.
Class 5 – Edges, Contrast & the Art of Simplification
Not everything in a landscape deserves equal attention. Through a series of quick painting exercises, participants explore how sharp and soft edges, selective detail, and controlled contrast can guide the viewer's eye. We investigate how simplifying complex landscapes into larger shapes can create stronger compositions and more convincing atmospheric depth. Particular attention is given to the relationship between foreground, middle ground, and background, and how the artist can deliberately emphasize or suppress visual information.
Class 6 – From Reference to Painting: Developing a Personal Composition
During the first half of this session, we explore how artists transform photographic references into compelling compositions. Participants experiment with cropping, rearranging elements, simplifying shapes, and adjusting light and colour relationships to strengthen a landscape.
During the second half of the class, participants begin their final painting. Working from a selected landscape reference, each student develops a preliminary composition, establishes a clear focal point, and begins blocking in the major shapes and tonal relationships. The emphasis is on applying the principles explored throughout the course while making increasingly independent artistic decisions.
Class 7 – The Resolved Landscape: Colour, Light & Atmosphere
Participants devote the entire session to developing their final landscape paintings. Building on their initial compositions, students explore how warm and cool colour relationships, atmospheric perspective, and carefully controlled tonal contrasts can create a convincing sense of depth. Individual instruction focuses on refining colour harmony, establishing visual hierarchy, and balancing expressive brushwork with careful observation. We also consider how selective detail and softened edges contribute to a cohesive and atmospheric painting.
Class 8 – The Resolved Landscape: Refinement & Artistic Decisions
Our final instructional session focuses on bringing each landscape painting toward completion. Participants refine their compositions, adjust colour and tonal relationships, strengthen focal points, and consider the subtle decisions that give a painting its sense of unity and atmosphere. We discuss when to introduce detail, when to simplify, and how to recognize when a painting is resolved. The session concludes with preparation for our group exhibition, celebrating each participant's progress and growing confidence as a landscape painter.
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Exhibition – A Celebration of the Process
The course ends with a relaxed, community-driven pop-up exhibition. Each participant will display a selection of works - from sketches and studies to final paintings - in a casual, non-commercial setting. It’s a celebration of growth, creativity, and shared experience.
When: Saturday, January 20rd - Saturday, March 13th: 11:30am ~ 2:30pm + EXHIBITION
Where: Suite 201 - 995 Herring Cove Road, Herring Cove, Nova Scotia, B3V-1H6
Fee: $275.00 (tax inc.)
Maximum 9 Participant Spaces
Registration: to register for the session or for more information, please email Christopher at info@cwebb.ca and he will respond within 1 day.
“I have taken two courses from Christopher and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. His classes are relaxed and highly informative. He is very comfortable and generous sharing his many years of experience as a professional artist.”
Eight Weeks. So much growth.
Meet your instructor
Christopher Webb is an internationally recognized, award-winning artist and art educator. His work has been exhibited across Canada and Europe, including a recent show at Marina Bastianello Gallery (Venice, 2026) following his receipt of the CREA - Cantieri Del Contemporaneo Venezia Prize for Painting. Click this link to learn more about Christopher and his art practice.
Testimonial
“Christopher’s classes are a game-changer for any artist ready to level up. His expert instruction and supportive mentorship have helped me grow not just as a painter but as a professional artist. Christopher combines technical excellence with real-world insight into the business of art—something rarely found in one teacher.
Best of all, his classes are fun, energizing, and filled with inspiration. His international experience and unique perspective have continually pushed me to create fresher, more dynamic work.”
[ From precise detail work to abstracted backgrounds, Christopher’s landscape paintings consistently evoke a strong sense of place, atmosphere, and emotional resonance. ]
About Christopher Webb’s Studio Workshop Series
Welcome to the STUDIO WORKSHOP SERIES, a unique offering of hands-on art workshops led by celebrated Canadian multidisciplinary artist Christopher Webb. These intimate sessions take place in Webb’s stunning, light-filled studio above PAVIA in Herring Cove—an inspiring creative space surrounded by natural beauty.
With over 20 years of experience teaching, lecturing, and mentoring, Christopher has built a reputation for offering thoughtful, engaging, and artistically enriching workshops. His work has been exhibited internationally, and his career spans visual arts, curation, and arts entrepreneurship. Through this workshop series, he brings his deep knowledge, generosity of spirit, and passion for artistic exploration to a small group setting—providing a rare opportunity to develop technique, build creative confidence, and expand your visual language.
While most workshops are led by Christopher himself, he also invites guest artists whose work and teaching he deeply respects. With only 8-10 participant spaces available per workshop, these are truly immersive, high-quality experiences for those looking to take their creative practice to the next level in a meaningful and supportive environment.