‘Winter’s Light’: MJSTv Tutorial

Absolutely stunning! You are on a different level my friend. Grats Dave.

Thank you Tony. You compliment is greatly appreciated. Cheers

Dave, this is absolutely stunning painting! Awesome shapes interactions! beautiful details!

Incredible, as Tony says another level, i can only imagine the patience needed to paint all those twigs

Very nice Dave

So gorgeous! Definitely on a higher level...almost looks real like a photo!

I just flipped through all the pages of your paintings in your profile and it's truly inspiring to see how you progress from your first upload to this one. Can I ask, at what point did you really feel things take off? Was there a crucial turning point where you feel like you really started to enjoy success with photorealism? I'm struggling to find balance between the tedium of detail work (as I'm wanting to paint as a way to relax) and wanting to have a finished product that has that wow factor (like this painting of yours). I suppose I am still finding myself as an artist, and am searching for guidance from as experienced as yourself.

Great one!
Loving the colours and details in this one.
(I looked up MSJ on Youtube. Could be useful for me as well. <3)

Thank you Sunnylady for your wonderful compliments and ongoing support. Very encouraging and heartwarming for this old soul. Cheers D

Thanks Terry, much appreciated - especially 'another level'. Yes, what seems like millions of twigs, many twice - for the branch / twig & the overlaying snow - plus drying time between. Ably supported by a glass-and-a-half at the end of the day - and I'm not talking about the stuff that goes into Cadbury chocolates either. Cheers D

Thanks Matt, cheers

Thank you Sandy. You have indeed given me wonderful compliments. Much appreciated. Cheers

Thank you Jeff for your really great compliment, both about the growth in my painting outcomes and about being inspiring. I'm not sure I am 'experienced' yet, but gaining in experience - yes. The relative Photorealism of Bob's bigger scene painting and ease of doing was what attracted me to trying his style. to take up painting. MJS's more detailed photorealism was the next step for me and the next crucial turning point because as soon as I saw his work, I felt 'I would love to be able to do that and gotta try it' feeling. Try something different and a bit more difficult, become reasonable at it, but more forward to something more difficult and exciting as soon as you feel you are learning less and starting to plateau in your painting growth. Your recent Kevin Hill painting looks as though it has already taken you to a new level, so might be worth doing more of those as a learning option. In terms of painting for relaxation, I actually found doing Bob's paintings to be very tension building and not relaxing because of the push / perceived push to get the whole painting done in the 1 session. With MJS type, even though it supports wet-on-wet painting if you keep going, it is no problem to stop at any stage and pick up later on - so more relaxing and satisfying overall. Relax, enjoy and keep challenging yourself. My email is in my profile if you want to use it.

Thank you Titian for your great compliments. If you are interested in having a go at the MJS photorealism style, go to his web-site - watch.michaeljamessmith.tv - and have a look at his range of lessons, especially his Beginners Level painting lessons. There is 1 lesson there ('How to paint an autumn tree') that is free to use all the videos in the lesson to try his style. It is much easier than doing the you-tube painting where he may have fast-forwarded sections. If you like this lesson, you can try a month's subscription if you wish. He has graded each of his sessions in 1 of 5 difficulty levels. He has an ongoing Facebook group for anyone who is subscribed, even if they stop subscribing after a while. Again, my email is in my profile if you want to send me one. Cheers

MJS is probably the best youtube artist on the platform, his paintings are incredible and Dave you are really up there my friend

High praise indeed Terry, thank you for that fantastic compliment. That is a performance indicator I will do my best to maintain. Cheers

Thank you for the response here, Dave, and for taking the time to look into my uploads. I'll take a look at the website and free lesson you mentioned, and see how that feels. I really appreciate the insight on painting for relaxation and the irony of finding more tension while following Bob's style, because that is often exactly how I have felt. Not being able to finish in one go has afforded me many opportunities for struggle (haha) in inventing ways to pick up where I left off. I look forward to trying the MJS stuff!

Jeff & TitiaD, you don't need MJS's brush set to do the free lesson, although they help I just initially used some I cheap brushes from the cheap store that I redesigned with a pair of scissors because I was so keen to give his lesson a go.

This is like a photograph. It is awesome!

Thank you Coldethel. An awesome compliment indeed. Your paintings look great and are well painted. Cheers

Thank you for the information DaveJ. Much appreciated. <3

Gorgeous Dave! Amazing detail of all of the snow sitting on those tiny branches! I am imagining it took forever to paint them. I also really like the way the snow chunks in the water are thick and rigid.

Thank you for the lovely compliments Pam. Yep, it seemed like forever, but worth it. Apologies for the delay, but I have only just found your comment. Cheers

excellent ... keep going .. really really good

Thank you David, much appreciated. it looks as though we have both been busy on other things.