Instruction

Please see below for a listing of classes and workshops offered. This page is updated as new classes and workshops are scheduled. Mentoring sessions are available at $85 per three-hour session. Sessions meet in Tom's studio in Albuquerque, unless other arrangements are made. Please contact me by email.

Clouds & Sky in the Landscape  meets in my Albuquerque studio 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays beginning October 2 2024 for 8 weeks. There is room for six students, and each student will receive a quality attention. Please contact me at tblazier@hotmail.com with any questions and to request a registration form and materials list. Cost is $376.70 (including tax)

This 8-week oil painting class will introduce students to the relationship between sky and ground and explore ways to impart luminosity in skies, strengthen compositions through effective placement of cloud shapes and enhance mood with creative use of color. Sessions will meet in the studio. Some observational time will be spent outside. It is advised that students who take this class have a grasp of art fundamentals.
 

Clouds & Sky in the Landscape

This workshop or 8-week oil painting class will introduce students to the relationship between sky and ground and explore ways to impart luminosity in skies, strengthen compositions through effective placement of cloud shapes and enhance mood with creative use of color. Sessions will meet in the studio. Some observational time will be spent outside. It is advised that students who take this class have a grasp of art fundamentals.

Composing the Landscape​

All successful art is derived from sound compositional choices. This workshop or 8-week studio class will familiarize students with the tools of composition necessary for conveying his or her expressive vision and intent for a given subject. Weekly sessions will explore value, color, shape, line, space, and direction as they apply to landscape oil painting. Students can expect individual attention based on their specific needs and skill level.

Refining the Landscape​

This workshop or 8-week class focuses on the process of seeing and painting the landscape in ways that enable artists to convey their intent quickly and effectively. Studio sessions will include distilling the visual complexity of nature to a few compositional choices, use of limited color palettes and values, and the economy of brush strokes. The instructor will give attention to common challenges that face many plein air and studio painters such as, establishing and maintaining the intent for a painting from start to finish; properly assessing greens in the landscape and interpreting them with pigment; and rendering skies that are luminous and compositionally interesting.​

Painting the Landscape en Plein Air

This workshop or 8-week class is for artists who have experience painting outdoors and would like to hone their skills through more one-to-one time with the instructor. The first part of the course will be a review of approaches to oil painting en plein air. The majority of the sessions will meet outdoors, weather permitting.

Color & Value in the Landscape:  You are invited to attend an 8-week oil painting landscape class that will do a deeper dive into color and value relationships. Class meets in my Albuquerque studio. ​ Most of us are aware of how important value is in the composition, but color is sometimes a more difficult challenge. We will explore the components of color — saturation, hue, value and temperature, and how to interpret these in light and shadow with the goal of resolving some of the mystery in handling color. We will also look at the importance of grays and the various ways in which they play an essential supporting role for the more intense color passages. Brush handling/ paint application will also be covered.

Nocturne Painting In Oils

Paint the magic light, mood and mystery of twilight time, including the sunset, darkness of night and moonlit subjects. This workshop or 8-week class will challenge students to “see” and paint color and values of low light subjects. Most sessions will be in the studio, with outdoor painting an option, if the class is agreeable. There will be demonstrations by the instructor, and students will use photo references of their choosing. Experience painting with oils is required for this class. 

Is it required that students use only oil paints in your classes and workshops, or are other mediums acceptable?

Occasionally other mediums are acceptable, but the use of oils is strongly recommended. My instruction focuses largely on general principles of composition and design, thus much of the instruction is useful regardless of of which medium is used.

Is art experience a prerequisite for taking your classes and workshops?

Having a foundation in drawing and composition will enable students to get the most from my instruction. My students generally have some experience, but there is a full range of experience and backgrounds. I try to help students according to each one's level of experience and skill.