Surrealism Realism : A step-by-step guide to Imaginative Painting

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Surrealism Realism

A masterclass in imaginative painting and original composition

We all started out drawing the same way: a few pencils, our imagination and no inhibitions.

Yet somewhere along the way things became more…complicated

Imaginative Painting is about returning to that childlike freedom, empowered by the technical mastery of an adult.

You have sketchbooks full of ideas. But finishing a painting feels like a completely different skill.
You can draw, but your sketchbooks are completely empty. Somewhere along the way you lost touch with your creative spark.
You start with enthusiasm and somewhere in the middle, it falls apart.
You do studies. You copy masters. But you rarely commit to original work.
You are interested in trying oil painting. but feel overwhelmed by the broad range of possible techniques.
You have images in your head you've never successfully gotten onto canvas.

Any of these sound familiar?

I designed this course for you. Fundamentally it is about getting your technical skills and your innate creativity talking to each other again.

Why Learn From Me?

I started out as an obsessed teenager during the golden age of online forums, learning from concept artists and illustrators whose entire focus was drawing from imagination. Later I studied and then spent seven years teaching at the Swedish Academy of Realist Art, where I fell in love with the discipline of classical technique.

What I make now is a mashup of those two worlds. This course lays out the method I actually use in my own studio — developing original images from a blank page, and often a blank mind.

The most exciting thing is when you surprise yourself. One thing I love to hear from students in workshops is: "I didn't realize I had this drawing waiting to come out."

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Join a community of over 2 million creatives who deeply value work made by hand. If you believe that the human spirit is still paramount in the arts, and you want to learn to express your own inner emotional world, this course is for you.

What you’ll walk away with

Your own finished, original imaginative composition.
A repeatable workflow you can return to for every painting after this one
A method for generating imagery when you feel like you have "no ideas"
Advanced strategies for drawing accurately and with less frustration
Foundational knowledge of values: how to create believable light and materials
Upgraded understanding of Colour theory
Methods to manage motivation across long projects
Confidence in the transition from drawing to paint — the stage where most artists stall
Motivation and direction to continue developing your own artistic voice

The Core Curriculum

In this video I show my techniques and process for ‘discovering’ imagery. The best ideas are the ones you didn’t even realise you had. Learn to sit down on days you feel uninspired and create anyway.

Assignment: Create a thumbnail from imagination using the techniques described.
How to identify, break down and solve the main drawing challenges
How to create good enough‍ references that still allow your imagination to take the drivers seat ‍
How to create a series of sketches culminating in a full size transfer drawing to prepare for the final work
Assignment: Gather reference and develop your thumbnail into a fully developed transfer drawing
A practical approach for breaking down the often overwhelming process of oil painting into manageable steps
Values 101 - the essential principles needed to create convincing light and materials
Assignment: Create a monochrome underpainting with a convincing and emotive sense of light
Colour theory 101: An introduction to the Munsell system of colour, how to think about colour like a pro
Introduction to glazing, how to find colours that enhance the mood and narrative of your work
Assignment: Glaze colour onto your own painting, getting it ready for the final push towards a finish
- How to finish a painting
- Managing motivation over long projects
- Four example demos
- The portrait
- The hand
- Waves
- Clouds
Each demo section focuses in on a different technical challenge and shows how it applies practically during the making of a painting
Assignment: Finish your painting!

"Miles has a knack for demystifying the more abstract parts of art making, like ideating and strengthening concepts, in addition to explaining the technical side in a clear and understandable way. Learning from him has transformed my art practice, letting me focus on the excitement of my ideas while instilling the knowledge that any blocks I run into along the way are solvable."

—Jackson Foster , Workshop student
Learning from Miles is not just about drawing. It’s about rendering surrealist ideas and bringing them into realism without losing the poetry.

- Lety Blanco, workshop student
"I walked into this workshop knowing how to draw but not knowing how to make my own art. Miles was able to break down the intimidating process of idea generation with clear examples from his work and that of old masters in a way that made it feel completely accessible. After just five days I feel confident about my ability to see an idea through from beginning to end, and walked away with amazing new friends also on the artist's path."

—Kenzie
"Miles is a fantastic instructor and really leveled up my artistic ability both technically and mentally. His thought process for finding ideas and refinement of those ideas is something I'm going to carry with me into the future for all my creative projects. He is genuine and unmasks hard to find info and techniques. 10/10 would learn from again. "

-kyriell (kyriell_art)
Miles has an extensive knowledge of art that he shares with true passion and dedication—something that comes from a deep obsession with the craft.

-Josh, workshop attendee
This workshop was nerdy, funny, inspiring and very productive. I created over 100 thumbnails/sketches and now have a stronger understanding of what parts of my rendering process need more attention.

-Martina, workshop attendee
My expectations for Miles Johnston’s workshop were already high, but it wildly exceeded them. I learned so much about process, composition, and technique! I left feeling inspired and uplifted, and the artist friendships I now have are priceless.

-Aileen Dolen MS CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
“This experience exceeded all of my expectations. Miles really helped me breakdown my concepts in ways I had never considered. Generating new ideas now feels more intuitive!”

-Moses Lawson

Beyond the Lessons

The Surrealism Realism Guild

Community Access

Enrolling in the full Bundle grants lifetime access to the discord server. Community benefits include:

It’s so easy to start something with such good intentions and high motivation only to have it slowly fade into the background again.
Joining our community and creating a work in progress thread will really help you to finish the course and remain inspired throughout.
Post your own work once completed and help lift up fellow artists
If you want to supercharge your learning, tag your work as ‘open for feedback’ and let our friendly helpful community help you with your next project
I am going to set aside time every week to participate in the forums, to answer questions, to critique work and to document the creation of my own work.
Every question asked and answered is archived and searchable. Benefit from a growing brain-trust of troubleshooting, materials deep-dives, and workflow hacks.
Engage with others taking the course, mutually inspire each other and share learning resources.
To be honest I’ve always wanted to be in a secret society, but like a nice non creepy one. A cosy band of artisans sharing knowledge and helping each other out