From Blah to Bold:
Transforming a Flat Photo Reference
One-Day Painting Workshop with Mike Hernandez
How to turn a dull photo into a vibrant Impressionist painting.
October 21st, from 10 AM to 4 PM Pacific Time.
The video will be recorded and available for viewing for 3 months.
Do you have folders full of photos that feel flat, gray, or uninspiring? In this one-day workshop, artist Mike Hernandezwill show you how to take those ordinary snapshots and transform them into lively Impressionist paintings full of light, color, and atmosphere.
We’ll begin with a simple, uninspired reference photo—maybe something taken on an overcast day or in poor lighting—and learn how to push the color, adjust values, and redesign the composition to create a painting that sings. Through demonstration and guided practice, Mike will walk you through the process of mining “boring” photos for hidden potential and using them as springboards for creativity.
What You’ll Learn
- How to identify what’s not working in a flat photo reference
- Strategies for exaggerating color and creating harmony
- Using value design to create depth and drama
- Adjusting or simplifying composition to strengthen the image
- How to inject personality and boldness while staying true to Impressionist principles
Why This Workshop Works
We all have plenty of “blah” photos sitting in our phones, sketchbooks, or old albums. Instead of discarding them, this workshop shows you how to turn them into gold—powerful paintings that capture mood and energy rather than copying what the camera saw.
Format
Demonstration: Mike will paint from a flat reference photo, showing how he interprets and transforms it.
Hands-on Painting: You’ll work from your own photo reference (bring one or two “boring” photos you’d like to tackle).
Details
Medium: Mike will demonstrate in gouache, but students are welcome to work in oil, acrylic, watercolor, or gouache.
Level: All levels welcome. Beginners will learn a step-by-step approach; experienced painters will gain strategies to elevate their work.
What to Bring: Your painting materials, sketchbook, and a couple of photo references you’d normally overlook.
By the end of the day, you’ll know how to breathe life into even the most lackluster images and walk away with fresh tools for building vibrant, Impressionist-inspired paintings.
Mike Hernandez
A native Angeleno, Mike Hernandez is a plein air painter skilled in gouache, oil and acrylic, who’s works have been featured in several on-line publications as well as galleries.
His process began as a young child, painting still life images. Influenced by the likes of Edgar Payne, Sorolla and Franz Bischoff, Mike soon explored the foundations of color and light in the outdoors – striving to find the beauty in the ordinary.
With a palette that resides at the crossroads between industrial and landscapes, he finds inspiration anywhere from the Eastern Sierra range to the muddy concrete banks of the Los Angeles River. Mike studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, graduating with a B.A. in 1998.
Mike was a Production Designer and Art Director as well as a concept artist at Dreamworks Animation and worked on such films as Shrek, How to train your Dragon, Turbo, Penguins of Madagascar and many other films.
Mike is also a member of a limited group of the finest painters in the US called PAPA as well as a nation-wide sought-after workshop instructor. His works can be found in several private collections around the world.
His process began as a young child, painting still life images. Influenced by the likes of Edgar Payne, Sorolla and Franz Bischoff, Mike soon explored the foundations of color and light in the outdoors – striving to find the beauty in the ordinary.
With a palette that resides at the crossroads between industrial and landscapes, he finds inspiration anywhere from the Eastern Sierra range to the muddy concrete banks of the Los Angeles River. Mike studied at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, graduating with a B.A. in 1998.
Mike was a Production Designer and Art Director as well as a concept artist at Dreamworks Animation and worked on such films as Shrek, How to train your Dragon, Turbo, Penguins of Madagascar and many other films.
Mike is also a member of a limited group of the finest painters in the US called PAPA as well as a nation-wide sought-after workshop instructor. His works can be found in several private collections around the world.
