painting tutorials, courses, tips & techniques

Disclaimer: I’m an artist, not a copyright attorney; everything here is shared for general educational purposes only.

Morning class, I get lots of emails from students who want to pick up a paintbrush but find the first stumbling block is what to paint! It’s easy to find yourself at a loss when looking for a good reference image for the simple reason of copyright.

Most published photos in books, magazines, and online are copyrighted. That means you typically need permission from the photographer or rights holder to use them as a reference for your paintings, especially if you intend to sell or publicly display the artwork.

However, if you’re simply using them for practice at home and not sharing the work commercially, or if they are being used for educational purposes, it’s usually okay. You can also look for images that are under Creative Commons. This is where an image can be used, and if displayed or sold, the original creator must be credited.

The best free reference images for artists are your own.

You can tweak, light, and design them to be unique. But when you’re starting out and want to practice different subjects, high-quality, royalty-free images can be super helpful.

When it comes to finding the perfect reference image for your artwork, not all sources are created equal. Knowing where to look and understanding the rules around usage can save you from the gut-wrenching moment of realising your beautifully finished piece is based on an image you didn’t have the right to use.

So I’ve put this article together to give you confidence in finding great resources, knowing your work is legally protected and ethically sourced.

There are three main categories of reference images that artists commonly use:

Museum and Library Archives

Museums and libraries hold vast collections of historical artworks, drawings, etchings, artefacts, and patterns. Many of these works are old enough to be in the public domain, meaning you can use them, even commercially, without restriction. This makes them super helpful for finding inspiration and creating master copies of artworks.

Free Photography Sites (Unsplash, Pexels, etc.)

These platforms offer high-quality images taken by living photographers. You’re free to reference these photos for your artwork and sell your painting or drawing based on them. However, you can’t just sell the original photo as is. Some of these sites have usage requirements like Creative Commons licensing or simple attribution to the photographer, so it’s important to double-check the terms before using them.

Artist-Curated Collections

These are specially curated for painters and illustrators. Unlike typical photography, these images often focus on strong light, simple shapes, and clear values making them perfect for translating into paint. Some of these collections come with zero copyright restrictions, while others may require simple attribution. They are designed with artists in mind, making it easier to spot key elements like shadows, contrasts, and composition that work well in a painting.

What Are Royalty-Free Reference Images?

A royalty is a recurring payment made for the use of someone else’s asset, like a song, book, or artwork.

For example, if a radio station plays your song, you receive a royalty each time it’s played. If a publisher sells your book, you earn a percentage of each sale.

“A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalty_payment – Wikepidia

‘Royalty-free’ works differently. It isn’t always free, you pay once to use the image or asset, with no additional fees each time you use it.

For free reference images, we don’t necessarily want a ‘royalty-free image, we want a ‘free-free’ image!

Morning class!

Thank you to all the students who shared their beautiful paintings from the last couple of months. So delighted to showcase a recent roundup of work from the students and artists following the blog.

Amazing work, everyone!

The sound of silence

If you’re accustomed to painting with music or in silence, you’re not alone. Many artists find comfort in familiar sounds—or the absence of them as they create. But have you ever considered inviting a new kind of companion into your studio?

Why Listen to Art Podcasts as a Beginner (or Experienced Artist)?

As a beginner, it’s easy to assume you need to spend every moment learning a technique. But the truth is, the biggest hurdle for most new artists isn’t a lack of skill. It’s feeling motivated and confident that you’re on the right path.

That’s where podcasts shine.

They offer you the chance to hear from working artists, tutors, and creatives who have all been where you are now.

Listening to their stories, challenges, and painting methods can shift your mindset from “Am I doing this right?” to “I’m not alone, and I can keep going.”

What if confidence, not skill, is the key to your painting progress?

Most beginners struggle with acrylics because they’ve never been shown a simple, structured approach with progressive techniques.

My YouTube channel has helped over 300,000 artists get started, with more than 25 million views.

My speciality?

Helping students who believe they “can’t even draw a stick man” finish paintings they’re genuinely proud of.

The Secret: Progress Is a State of Confidence, Not Skill

If progress comes from building confidence rather than technical skill alone, how would that change your approach to learning?

I came across this idea recently when reading “Suddenly Talented’ by Sean D’Souza, and it struck a chord.

“When we talk about talent, we rush madly towards skill.Yet, there is no skill without confidence. Confidence makes the reluctant student realise that they’re not so bad after all.”
Sean D’Souza – Suddenly Talented

I’ve found many beginners try to learn painting or drawing by osmosis, by watching an experienced artist work.

But this approach falls flat.

Morning class!

What a creative couple of months it has been for students following the courses and lessons!

Some had never held a paintbrush before, while others were returning to art after years away.

Each painting tells not just a story of subject matter, but of personal growth. The tentative lines have given way to confident brushstrokes.

Amazing work.

The Importance of Choosing

True freedom lies in consciously choosing what matters most and letting go of the rest. For overthinkers, this can feel impossible.

The Reality Check

Eight days into the new year, my paints and sketchpad are still on the shelf.

Things have been “busy.”

You know how it goes: catching up on YouTube videos, checking my macros, meeting friends. But in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking about what I want to make next… a lot.

Some would call it overthinking.

The list of things I want to do grows endless: Sargent-inspired portraits, still life studies with just a biro, square landscape paintings of Cornwall, epic wide-angle views of Scotland, and a new watercolour course.

I procrastinate, and before I’ve even begun, I have lost some momentum in executing these ‘amazing’ ideas.

Understanding Resistance

In Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art,” he talks about ‘resistance’ – that mysterious force that stops us from doing what we should be doing. Every creative experiences it. As Pressfield writes:

“Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance.” – Steven Pressfield, the War of Art

Understanding that happiness, contentment, and calm come from overcoming resistance helps you take steps to work through it.

The Overthinking Trap

I tend to get stuck in the weeds – I analyse framing options before drawing the first line, think about international shipping fees before getting my first order, and research every camera and printer option on the market before deciding which painting to turn into a print.

These tendencies can be fantastic for idea generation or interdisciplinary thinking, but what they’re not so good at is a focus.

The (self-inflicted) pressure to ‘specialize’ can mean it’s easier not to paint anything for fear of painting the wrong thing.

A Solution: Pick One

Here’s my proposal for a personal New Year creative experiment, and I invite you to try it yourself:

Pick one.

Just one format, one medium, one subject.

The key is knowing that you’re not abandoning all other ideas – they’re just waiting their turn. This might feel a little uncomfortable as your ego jumps in to say, ‘You could do more’.

When you’re painting, the goal is an appreciation for those fleeting moments of pure creation.

Sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is to simply begin.

If you’re looking for a course that has one image, one path, you might enjoy the following single project courses:

Modern Still Life
Cornish Seascape
How to Paint a Monet Landscape

Morning class, I just wanted to let you know that the new How to Paint a Monet Landscape Course is now live!

It’s a one-time payment with lifetime access to the lessons.

The course is a self-study video course for beginners exploring Monet’s palette, methods and techniques.

You can download the Materials list for the Course.

Really hope you enjoy it!

One of the most common messages I receive, is from beginners, asking if they ‘need to loosen up.’

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

Painting in a loose, impressionistic style has the allure of freedom and artistic and personal expression. But when you’re thinking about your drawing, composition, and colour mixing, achieving fluid and expressive brushwork feels elusive.

So, what can you do to practice? How can you keep a balance between realism and looseness?

The key to looser brushwork lies in mastering the subtleties of your tools and learning how to let go of unnecessary precision.

The 1 Reason Most People Fail at Brushwork

Morning Class,

This week, I came across an interesting article on ‘Just Paint’ (Golden Paints Blog), which I thought I’d share with you.

It looks at the common problem of acrylic paints becoming over-diluted when stored in a stay-wet palette and tests the Masterson’s Sta-wet Palette, it’s absorbent sponge, with Golden Wetting Agent.

(The Wetting Agent was previously called ‘Acrylic Flow Release’)

I find using a stay-wet palette really helpful when my acrylics dry too quickly in the studio.

I’ll often premix colours on a tear-off palette and transfer the paint piles into a stay-wet palette. It acts as a loading bay where I can keep my acrylic mixes workable for a few days.