Oil Painting: Create Surreal Landscapes
A course by Paul NeberraArtist
A course by Paul Neberra, Artist
Learn to use oil paints to create a unique landscape, combining both realism and symbolism.
Blur the line between reality and fiction to create an oil painting masterpiece with artist Paul Neberra. His work has been featured in several magazines and used for French brewery La Débauche’s branding.
In this course, Paul teaches you how to paint a dreamlike piece of artwork by releasing your creative potential. Learn the skills needed to build a textural landscape, paint a detailed and anatomically-correct eye, and work with grayscale. Explore imaginative ways to give different narratives to picturesque art.
What will you learn in this online course?
18 lessons & 13 downloads
Materials
7 minutes, 11 seconds
Mixing Medium and First Brush Strokes
8 minutes, 32 seconds
Eye Study
20 minutes, 22 seconds
Landscape Study
21 minutes, 23 seconds
Preparing the Canvas
5 minutes, 30 seconds
Getting Ready
7 minutes, 30 seconds
What's included in this course?
Begin this course by meeting Paul as he shares the story of how he became a part of the art world and what led him to where he is now. He shares who and what his influences are and the different projects he’s worked on.
Explore the materials needed for the course, mixing, and brush work basics. Learn how to build shadows, textures, and work with grayscale to begin creating the anatomically-correct eye in your piece. Understand how to build your landscape as Paul teaches you to work from references, select colors, and form a background and foreground ready to prime your canvas.
Prepare your workspace, and begin the underpainting process by marking out and sketching the different elements of your picture. Spend time adding detail and definition to the eye before being guided through techniques to merge the sky with the eye. Create the mountain line to finish your landscape with soft colors and contrast.
Finish your painting with the addition of some extra detail. Paul then gives his advice on best practices and safety measures for using varnish before adding it to your picture to make your masterpiece pop.
What is this course's project?
Create a surrealist oil painting of an all-seeing eye floating over mountains.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone who wants to explore creating art with oil paints.
Requirements and materials
Basic drawing or painting skills are useful, but no previous knowledge is required.
In terms of materials you need a set of oil paints and brushes, solvent, brushes for varnish, a canvas, and other materials specified by the teacher in the course.
Reviews
- 1 month ago
El surrealismo es una tecnica muy interesante y convinarlo con paisajismo es muy interesante.
- 2 years ago
This course is really useful for people who have never tried oil painting like me. Thank you Paul!
- 2 years ago
Ich wollte an die Ölmalerei herangeführt werden, das hat sehr gut geklappt. Der Kurs ist lehrreich und ich habe viel gelernt. Es lohnt sich und ich empfehle es weiter. Es ist ein Kurs für alle, nicht nur für Liebhaber der surrealistischen Kunst. Es geht hier um die Ölmalerei, nicht um den Surrealismus. Step by step wurde mir alles sehr gut erklärt.
- 2 years ago
me gusto mucho como introducción
- 2 years ago
Buen curso para iniciarse al óleo
Surrealism has been a passion of Paul’s since he was a child and once he discovered Pop Surrealism everything fell into place. In 2013 he began pursuing his artistic career. Since then his work has been used on products such as beer cans for French brewery La Débauche, and featured in several magazines including on the cover of Heavy Metal magazine, in Catapult, and Beautiful Bizarre.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- About Me
- Influences
- U2
Oil painting
- Materials
- Mixing Medium and First Brush Strokes
- Eye Study
- Landscape Study
- Preparing the Canvas
- U3
Painting the Surreal Landscape
- Getting Ready
- Underpainting
- Painting the Eye 1
- Painting the Eye 2
- Merging the Eye With the Sky 1
- Merging the Eye With the Sky 2
- Finishing the Landscape 1
- Finishing the Landscape 2
- U4
Finishing a Painting
- Final Details 1
- Final Details 2
- Varnishing
- FP
Final project
- Oil Painting: Create Surreal Landscapes
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for students with intermediate oil painting experience. It expands on foundational techniques and introduces advanced methods for creating surreal landscapes and figurative works.
You will need oil paints, brushes (round, flat, filbert), primed canvas or heavyweight paper, gesso, a palette knife, Liquin or another medium, solvents, and varnish. Access to digital tools like Photoshop is also recommended for some lessons.
You’ll learn how to compose and paint surreal landscapes using oil techniques, create atmospheric perspective, blend sky and foreground, and integrate imaginative elements and symbolism inspired by surrealism and pop surrealism.
Basic familiarity with Photoshop or digital art tools is helpful but not required. Some lessons cover digital workflows to optimize creative processes, but the core of the course focuses on traditional oil painting.
The course teaches grayscale eye studies, focusing on values, anatomy, and blending. You’ll learn to use a limited palette and detail techniques to create expressive and anatomically accurate eyes with oil paint.
Yes, the course covers canvas preparation, including applying and mixing gesso, creating a toned ground, and ensuring optimal surface texture for oil painting.
You’ll learn proper varnishing techniques, including when and how to apply retouch and final varnishes safely, along with tips for protecting and preserving your finished work.