Landscape Oil Painting Demonstration by Kenn Backhaus

About Kenn Backhaus

Kenn was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin and spent much of his childhood on the family farm near Burnett, Wisconsin. His fondness for nature became the catalyst for his art. Kenn’s parents encouraged his artistic education and following High School, he attended Layton School of Art in Milwaukee,Wisconsin. After graduation from Layton in 1973, he embarked on his professional career in Design and Illustration. As a commercial designer and illustrator Kenn received many awards at both local and national levels, which included acceptance in the Annual Society of Illustrators Show in New York. Although Kenn took pride in his commercial successes, his heart always belonged to the fine art of outdoor painting.

With developing interest in the historic Plein Air style of painting, Kenn decided in 1984, to devote more time to his passion for painting and the love of the outdoors. He found that capturing true color, value and the mood of a subject was best done on location or through direct observation. His passion for painting has broadened his subject matter to include not only landscape, but also figurative, portrait, still life and wildlife.

Kenn’s works have been juried into many shows across the country, including the Oil Painters of America National Shows. His works have received many awards including the Collector’s Choice Award at the Seventh Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational 2005, Artist’s Choice Award at the First Annual Telluride Plein Air Exhibit and Sale, 2004, Fredix Artist Canvas Best Landscape award at the 2004 Oil Painters of America National Show, Kirkland, Washington, Tara Best Landscape award at the 2003 Oil Painters of America National Show, Taos, New Mexico, Second Place Award in the Crystal Cove Invitational Exhibition 2003, 1999 Finalist winner The Artist Magazine, a Best of Show in the 1999 Invitational American Plains Artist Show, Midland, Texas, Award of Excellence in the 1998 Regional Oil Painters of America Show, Arlington Heights, IL.

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Step by Step Oil Painting Demo by Mike Callahan

About Mike

Nationally recognized, award winning artist Mike Callahan is a fourth generation Nevada native who counts himself privileged to grow up in what he believes to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains near Reno, Nevada where he still lives today. While he has been painting since childhood, he has only been painting in earnest for about the last 5 or 6 years.

Says Mike, “The topography of this area is simply phenomenal; one can go from the high desert to mountainous alpine settings in less than an hour. It is this beautiful and varied landscape that ends up being the subject for a vast majority of my paintings.”

However, if you look through the paintings on Mike’s website, you will quickly see that the Sierra landscape isn’t the only subject Mike typically paints. He also enjoys painting Western themes as well as figurative and portraits.

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Landscape Oil Painting Demonstration – “Truckee – Early Spring”

About Mike

Nationally recognized, award winning artist Mike Callahan is a fourth generation Nevada native who counts himself privileged to grow up in what he believes to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains near Reno, Nevada where he still lives today. While he has been painting since childhood, he has only been painting in earnest for about the last 5 or 6 years.

Says Mike, “The topography of this area is simply phenomenal; one can go from the high desert to mountainous alpine settings in less than an hour. It is this beautiful and varied landscape that ends up being the subject for a vast majority of my paintings.”

However, if you look through the paintings on Mike’s website, you will quickly see that the Sierra landscape isn’t the only subject Mike typically paints. He also enjoys painting Western themes as well as figurative and portraits.

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