Neil Patterson: Sundown

This is the 3rd demonstration video by Neil Patterson, OPAM and President of the Oil Painters of America. As with his previous videos, it was a wonderful experience to watch him work in a leisurely, relaxed pace while using such bold colors. His technique was so easy and relaxed that it seemed that anyone could easily do it, and his loose, impressionistic style is a pleasure to watch and is, indeed, a technique and style that which everyone should see. Patterson emphasizes that color, not subject, is the true essence of his paintings. Not limited to a single genre, he moves from landscapes to floral works to wildlife paintings and figures with an easy grace. Patterson relies on an impressionistic Alla Prima style. "I used to work from photographs, but over the years I've learned not to do that," he says. "When I see a sky, I like to put that in my visual memory bank, and on another day I might add an appealing cluster of trees or an intriguing bend in the river. As I paint I simply add a mountain or plant a tree in order to create a scene that pleases me visually. The final composition becomes a composite of many impressions in my memory. Each of us remembers things in a certain way that is our own reality. I paint things the way I remember them, perhaps not exactly as they are." "Painting is all about passion," declares Neil Patterson. "If you respond to the passion that you have inside yourself, that's when the real painting comes out. Selling your work is a bonus; painting itself is what really matters." It is his ability to paint feelings rather than merely replicating what he sees that makes Patterson's vibrant, impressionistic oils so appealing.