MITCH BAIRD
PAINTING WITH
PERCEPTION

Mitch Baird
MENTORING MEMBERSHIP

(Billed annually • Save $125 vs monthly)

(Cancel or pause anytime)

WHAT’S INSIDE

This membership gives you full access to Mitch’s “Painting with Perception” course, including ongoing mentoring designed to help you see more clearly, simplify with confidence, and build paintings on strong fundamentals.

If you feel stuck, overthink every composition, or end up with paintings that feel busy, muddy, or unclear—you’re not alone. Most struggles come from chasing color and detail before understanding structure.

Mitch teaches that value holds the color . You’ll learn to establish value first, then identify color family, temperature, and finally chroma. That order changes everything. Instead of guessing at the palette, you begin making deliberate decisions.

You’ll understand why color shifts in space—why yellow falls away in the distance and mountains turn violet and blue . You’ll learn to think in large, simple shapes before breaking them into detail . You’ll discover how design and arrangement determine what your painting is truly about .

This isn’t about decorative color or stylistic shortcuts. It’s about principles that work every time. Expressiveness comes after truth—after value and relationships are correct .

There’s no fixed timeline. Growth happens through repetition, observation, and refining your perception .

Your access to Mitch’s mentoring and the Painting with Perception course material continues as long as you remain an active member through a yearly or monthly membership option.

Students stop feeling lost. They simplify. They see relationships more clearly. And over time, painting becomes less about frustration and more about confidence grounded in principle.

INTRODUCTION

The Perception of Seeing
The act of ‘seeing’ is an actual skill that artists’ need to comprehend in order to create successful representational works of art.  I will begin by presenting several paramount concepts regarding visual perception.  It is crucial to learn how to interpret what is in front of you before incorporating the fundamentals.  It is my goal to help you see (what I call) ‘optically’ and offer some inspiration with this concept to strengthen it.  The art of visual communication depends on it.

MODULE 1 | COMPOSITION

What is composition?  It is design.  How do you define design?  Design is simply a thoughtful expression of your idea through arrangement.  In this module I will cover the importance of establishing a solid motif and what to consider within the facets of arrangement to keep the viewers attention.  I will cover the importance of format, dealing with masses, and balance to compile a strong painting.  Our ideas must resonate in the art we create through composition..

MODULE 2 | DRAWING

Drawing is the concept of representing and applying the 2D and 3D elements of design onto a flat 2-dimensional surface.  The kind of drawing I am talking about, is not line, but the arrangement and proportions of masses, shapes, and forms.  First, I will discuss the 2nd dimension, which is flat shape, proportion and seeing in the abstract.  Next, I will cover the importance of the 3rd dimension regarding space and perspective.  Perspective is feared (and frankly avoided) by most, but it is of the highest importance if you want to give depth to your paintings.  I will share with you some simple and unique principles for success.

MODULE 3 | VALUE

Value is not only the most pivotal part of painting but the most difficult to grasp.  It is important because it is tied to all the other fundamentals and constitutes our perception of light, space, and form.  I will discuss the concepts of luminance, comparative seeing, ambient light and the cardinal ‘Form Principle’, which all deal with representing light.  It is with these tools that we are able to exemplify the world around us. 

MODULE 4 | COLOR

Color is the dazzling part of painting that we all love the most.  However, before diving into those luscious pigments there are serious principles that must be adhered too if you want a harmonious work of art.  I will break down how to truly ‘see’ color, harmony, and that illusive aerial perspective.  Once you understand the core of how color works, you are then able to set yourself free, expressing with it.  

SUGGESTED SUPPLY LIST

{Although Mitch has a preference for oil paint, he is happy to help students explore and work with their preferred medium, whether it's acrylics, gouache, pastels, or watercolors.}

BONUS | THE SCIENCE AND PLOTTING OF REFLECTIONS

Only students in this course receive this special bonus video - it’s not available for purchase anywhere.

In this 20-minute never-before-seen instructional video, Mitch shares, How to Paint Reflections.

Have you ever looked at a body of water and wondered how or why reflections work the way they do? Have you ever wondered why some things seem to reflect differently than others? Many of us fear adding water to our scene because of our insecurities of understanding how to paint it correctly.

Mitch will explain the mechanics of reflections and how to plot them convincingly in your paintings to create strength and authenticity. With this knowledge, you can spice up your designs with confidence.

You can download and save this video in a safe place. It's yours to keep as a takeaway when your course access ends.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Whether you’re just starting out or an established artist, this course is packed with everything you need to elevate your work and achieve your artistic goals.

• Ongoing Mentoring with Mitch Baird

  This is not a short-term workshop. Mentoring is delivered through an ongoing membership, giving you continued access to Mitch’s instruction, structured guidance, and disciplined approach for as long as you remain enrolled.

  The emphasis is not quick fixes. It’s building dependable structure — in perception, composition, drawing, value, and color. Many painters quietly experience the same frustration: You understand theory. You practice consistently. And yet your paintings still feel uncertain.

  This membership exists to change that.
  

• Learn at Your Own Pace

  All instruction is delivered through professionally recorded videos, allowing you to learn when and where it suits you. Watch lessons on your own schedule, pause and revisit palette breakdowns, and return to demonstrations as your understanding deepens.

  Your access remains active as long as your membership is active, so learning unfolds naturally alongside your painting practice—without pressure or expiration.
  

• Over-the-Shoulder Demonstrations

  You’ll gain access to more than 20 hours of in-depth oil painting demonstrations where Mitch explains not only what he does, but why he makes each decision.

  You’ll see how he simplifies complex scenes into large value shapes, establishes structure before detail, organizes color through temperature, and arranges elements to maintain focus.

  Each module includes assignments and reference materials so you can apply what you’re learning in a practical, measurable way.
  

• Ongoing Additions & Growing Library

  As a member, you gain access to an expanding library of lessons and recorded material. New content is added periodically, and all previously released material remains available to you while you’re enrolled.

  This growing archive allows you to explore topics over time and revisit concepts as your understanding deepens.
  

• A Private, Focused Community — No Social Media

  We’ve moved away from Facebook and built a private, purpose-designed community directly within your account. This distraction-free space is created specifically for artists—no algorithms, no noise, no social media fatigue.

  Here, you’ll connect with Mitch and fellow members, share your work, ask questions, and engage in thoughtful discussion focused entirely on painting and growth.
  

• Community Guidance Led by Mitch

  As part of the membership, you gain insight into how an experienced painter thinks about each painting. You’ll see how he diagnoses value errors, compositional imbalance, perspective confusion, and color misinterpretation. You’ll understand the reasoning behind adjustments and learn how to apply those principles yourself.

  Over time, you stop reacting emotionally to problems and start analyzing them structurally.

  The goal isn’t simply feedback on individual paintings. When Mitch critiques work, the goal is not just to fix a single painting. It’s to strengthen your eye.
  

• AI-Powered Course Search

  The course includes an AI-powered search tool built entirely from Mitch’s own videos and teaching content. Ask a question, and the system instantly locates the exact moment in the course where that topic is discussed.

  You can watch the video or read the transcript—saving time and helping you get straight to the information you need, when you need it.

• Extensive Archive of Past Critiques

  Members also receive access to a deep archive of recorded student critiques and teaching sessions. These aren’t surface-level comments — they are detailed breakdowns of real paintings, real mistakes, and real corrections.

  If you’ve ever looked at your work and thought, “Something’s off, but I don’t know what,” this is where clarity begins.

  Watching Mitch diagnose and correct issues in real time—identifying weak value structure, compositional confusion, inaccurate drawing, or misread color temperature. More importantly, you’ll see exactly how those issues are corrected. As you observe these corrections repeatedly, your eye begins to change. You begin making stronger decisions earlier in the process instead of trying to fix problems at the end.

  The benefit is you develop the ability to diagnose and correct your own work — with clearer perception, stronger structure, and growing confidence grounded in principle.

DISCOVER WHY THIS COURSE IS DIFFERENT!

Many painting courses offer short-term instruction with an expiration date. This mentoring membership is built around steady, long-term development of your ability to truly see — strengthening your perception, structure, and decision-making over time.

Mitch teaches a disciplined approach rooted in fundamentals — composition, drawing, value, and color working together as one unified system. You won’t be chasing shortcuts or stylistic details. You’ll learn how to simplify complex scenes into strong masses, establish clear value relationships before reaching for color, and organize your painting so it communicates a focused idea rather than scattered information.

The emphasis is on building reliability into your decisions. You’ll learn to see comparatively instead of guessing, to establish value before chroma, and to control temperature shifts. Hence, space feels believable, and you arrange elements so your focal point remains dominant. Instead of constantly fixing problems late in the process, you’ll understand how to prevent them — avoiding muddy passages, flat depth, weak light, and overworked areas that compete for attention.

This course trains your eye first. When perception sharpens, everything improves. Composition becomes clearer. Drawing gains confidence. Light feels natural. Color harmony strengthens because value is holding it together.

Because this is membership-based mentoring, you are not pressured to rush through lessons before access disappears. You can revisit modules, rewatch demonstrations, and allow your understanding to mature at your own pace for as long as you remain an active member.

This is mentoring for painters who want lasting improvement — not just better paintings, but clearer seeing, stronger structure, and the confidence that comes from working within principles that hold up every time.

Mitch Baird
MENTORING MEMBERSHIP

(Billed annually • Save $125 vs monthly)

(Cancel or pause anytime)