Green dominates much of the natural world, yet it’s one of the most complex and misunderstood colors in painting. In this hands-on oil painting workshop, we’ll explore how to approach greens artistically — not as a single color, but as a living spectrum of light, temperature, and atmosphere. Through guided demos and exercises, participants will learn to see beyond “local color” and capture the nuanced harmony that makes landscape painting feel alive and believable.
We’ll cover practical methods for mixing natural greens using a limited palette, balancing warm and cool variations, and establishing value structure before introducing color. Emphasis will be placed on observing nature intelligently — understanding how distance, light, and air affect greens, and how to simplify and design them to serve the overall composition.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll have a clear, painterly approach to handling greens with confidence and subtlety. Whether painting plein air or in the studio, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how to translate the vibrancy of nature into rich, harmonious color relationships on canvas.
Igor Staritsin is a classically trained painter whose work bridges the worlds of fine art and cinematic storytelling. With a deep foundation in traditional painting, Igor has been creating art since early childhood, cultivating a lifelong passion for visual expression through oil, acrylic, and digital art. His paintings reflect an artistic sensibility - rich in atmosphere, light and color as well as emotional resonance.
Since returning to Vancouver, Igor has become an active voice in the Canadian art scene. An award-winning artist and a Signature Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists since 2017, he has participated well over 50 juried exhibitions in the Gallery, earning recognition for his evocative landscapes and poetic realism.
In addition to his gallery work, Igor is an accomplished art-director, concept artist and matte painter in the film and visual effects industry. His contributions span over 60 feature films and game cinematics, including iconic franchises such as Alien, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, and Jurassic World. This unique crossover between fine art and blockbuster cinema infuses his work with a distinctive sense of drama and scale.
" I really valued Igor’s practical, experience-based feedback. He always took the time to respond thoughtfully and go in-depth, ensuring I truly understood each concept. " -Jonathan
" Igor was going above and beyond to provide us with the feedback and armed us with knowledge we needed to tackle each task. On top of that he is a really nice and open person. I had amazing pleasure to learn and grow along his side. Thank you, Igor. " -Arthur
" He’s a great instructor — patient, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about teaching. His explanations are clear, and he knows how to guide you toward real artistic improvement. " -Jose
This class will go in-depth into what matte painting has become these days as well as what it will take students to create an epic and believable matte shot of their own. The course begins with an introduction to the subject of matte painting, embracing every tiny aspect of the profession. We'll discuss how to come up with strong ideas for a painting, focusing on what should be taken into account when designing a matte shot. We'll cover essentials from traditional art that are crucial to artistic success—starting with black and white sketches, students will learn design and compositional rules as well as how to utilize lighting to tell the story in the best way possible. Students will then move on to color studies, learning a wide range of tools and techniques, and will learn how to achieve photorealistic quality in the final matte painting. This course utilizes a wide range of techniques from 2D, 2.5D, to 3D, using software such as Photoshop, World Machine, Maya, Vray, 3D Coat and Nuke to create a final moving shot. This course is designed to be exceptionally useful for artists of all levels to help them achieve the best results in their work. NOTE: there will be a "History of Matte Painting" lesson available prior to class beginning, located in the "Week 0" forum.
In this lecture, Igor Staritsin takes you through the entire process of creating an epic matte shot. He starts by painting a few thumbnails while discussing the fundamental principles of successful environment art. Igor then begins painting the compositional sketch while establishing the mood. Maya is then used to create a base model for the architectural pieces and then the process proceeds in Photoshop to create a detailed environment using a broad range of advanced techniques. Finally, Nuke is used to set up camera projections and to establish the final comp. Along the way, Igor covers necessary aspects of what it takes to be a successful matte painter, what should be taken into account when dealing with landscape paintings and what should be avoided to ensure that a painting is enjoyable to the audience. He also shares several technical aspects of a matte-painters’ job and demonstrates how to use them in order to be more efficient. This thorough lecture and demonstration, by a leading industry artist, will aid artists of all levels interested in achieving professional results in their work.
