Happy new year to all my students and wishing you a wonderful 2023 of art!
2022 has been a very busy year! I finally finished a multi-year project to build a brand new online art school to replace my old school (see the video below), and have been exploring lots of new and exciting ideas in painting. I painted in Ireland, a brand new landscape for me, and had a great time meeting our Irish artist friends at the Art in the Open event, including some of my Virtual Art Academy students. And then back to Montenegro to capture some more of its awe inspiring scenery.
Plein Air Painting In Ireland
Below are a few pieces of artwork I did in Ireland.
![](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Cat.-No.-1478-Enniscorthy-Life-Ireland-25cm-x-20cm-Oil-on-Linen.jpg)
![Cat. No. 1475 Wexford Boats, Ireland - 20cm x 27.5cm - Oil on Linen - 2022](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Cat.-No.-1475-Wexford-Boats-Ireland-20cm-x-27.5cm-Oil-on-Linen-2022.jpg)
After this experience, I admire the plein air painters in Ireland. The winds are ferocious! The one advantage though is that it is a good solution to overworking your painting.
When you have to constantly hold your easel with one hand, you only have time for a few brushstrokes, before you have to get back to holding your easel to stop it from blowing over!
You can see above from the video above showing my palette and brushes scattered on the pavement that that I failed the test!
The Ring of Kerry was as beautiful as its excellent reputation. In the course of painting this piece, I packed my painting gear and painting away three times to protect it from the frequent rain showers!
![Cat. No. 1481 Breaking Sun, Ring of Kerry, Ireland -30cm x 29.5cm - Oil on Linen - 2022](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cat.-No.-1481-Breaking-Sun-Ring-of-Kerry-Ireland-30cm-x-29.5cm-Oil-on-Linen-2022-pianello-americancontemporary-2700-1024x1024.jpg)
Plein Air Painting In Montenegro
I continued my exploration of landscape painting in Montenegro this year, and did something quite abstract here on its Adriatic coast, which is an incredible place to paint.
In the piece below, I am using a combination of watercolor and oil painting techniques.
![Cat. No. 1488 Turquoise and Gold, Sutomore Bay, Montenegro - 27.5cm x 36cm - Oil on Board - 2022](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cat.-No.-1488-Turquoise-and-Gold-Sutomore-Bay-Montenegro-27.5cm-x-36cm-Oil-on-Board-2022-ratko-1000x200.jpg)
Here is some of the scenery on the coast of Montenegro to whet your appetite. I look forward to doing workshops there!
I love taking pictures of my palette after a painting, trying to find abstract painting compositions.
![Cat. No. 1404 palette](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG_9272-1024x1024.jpg)
I also like transforming a sleepy Montenegrin mountain village ….
![](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cat.-No.-1493-scene.jpg)
into this ……
![Cat. No. 1493 Sleepy Mountain Village, Utrg, Montenegro - 35cm x 28cm - Oil on Board - 2022](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cat.-No.-1493-Sleepy-Mountain-Village-Utrg-Montenegro-35cm-x-28cm-Oil-on-Board-2022-ratko-americancontemporary-1750-802x1024.jpg)
The tug boats in the port of Bar, on the coast of Montenegro provided some interesting subject matter.
![Cat. No. 1490 Orange in Blue, the Port of Bar, Montenegro - 19.8 cm x 27.5cm - Oil on Board - 2022](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cat.-No.-1490-Orange-in-Blue-the-Port-of-Bar-Montenegro-19.8-cm-x-27.5cm-Oil-on-Board-2022-ratko-americancontemporary-1350-1024x727.jpg)
Plein Air Painting In Italy
And finally a piece I did during my workshop this year in northern Tuscany, Italy, of the village of Licciana Nardi, just below my studio.
![Cat. No. 1487 Licciana Nardi Cafe Street Oil on Linen - 2022](https://www.virtualartacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Cat.-No.-1487-Licciana-Nardi-Cafe-Street-xxcm-x-xxcm-Oil-on-Linen-2022-ratko-1024x750.jpg)
New Online Art School
This year I put a lot of work into making improvements to my Virtual Art Academy online art school. Effectively, it has been completely re-built for 2023. So far the reception to the new school has been fantastic.
I restructured the assignments and feedback system to improve the quality of feedback you get on your assignments, and built a new path through the Apprentice Program curriculum for those of you who only have limited time for your art. The new curriculum path teaches you about painting by leading you one-by-one through all the key principles and secrets the masters used to make their paintings truly great. The new curriculum takes only takes about 15 minutes a week.
If you want to see how my new online art school works and a preview of these new features, watch the video below:
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you find it useful. If you would like to get free painting tips by email, please sign up for my free tips newsletter.
If you are interested in a structured approach for learning how to paint, take a look at my online painting classes.
Happy painting!
Barry John Raybould
Virtual Art Academy
What The Students Are Saying
Read my tips about plein air painting.
Beautiful paintings in so many parts of the world, Barry! Hope you can come to Hawaii one day and I will show you some beautiful places to paint here!
I see painting in both oils snd watercolor mentioned in the introductory video . Will these classes provide the same instruction to painters using acrylics
Yes Nancy, acrylics and oils are both covered in the online painting classes. In fact, the Apprentice Program was written for all painting media, including pastels and digital painting media as well as oils, acrylics and watercolors.