Those who have taken any of my classes are likely to have done a couple of basic exercises:

The Ridiculously Simple Landscape

and

Color Mixing for the Clueless

Two versions of the "Ridiculously Simple Landscape" -- one of which is obviously less simple. These were both classroom demos, made with my basic "Color Mixing for the Clueless" palette.

These are useful starting points if you're new to painting or you feel that you are lacking some basic, foundational concepts. The "simple landscape" consists of sky and open prairie. There are no trees to paint, no mountains, no complicated clouds, no water with its reflections (unless you want to, of course). There is ground and there is sky ... and you get a basic intro to:

Dividing the space -- that is, how much will be ground and how much will be sky. This is the first, key element of designing any landscape painting.

How to mix various greens -- from near-black, to vibrant middle tones, to muted and pale

How and why to paint a sky using more than just one blue color and white

Why the direction of your brush strokes really matters

How to get the illusion of land and sky receding into the distance, rather than having what looks like a flat wall painted with blue and green

"Color Mixing for the Clueless" will introduce you to the double primary palette. You'll learn to mix with six colors -- two versions each of red, yellow, and blue -- plus white. I used this pared-down palette to help myself get a better foundation with mixing colors, and I've found it helpful for most painters.

It's also flexible! Once you understand the principles, you can use very different double primary palettes favored by other artists, create your own version from scratch, or add extra colors to get specific effects that you need. Double primary palettes are a concept the way that cars are a concept. There are many different models. 

Since the Ridiculously Simple Landscape uses the same paint colors and materials as Color Mixing for the Clueless, I have created a single materials list for both.

Want to paint along with the upcoming demo videos?

Here's where to get what you need:

Click here for OILS

Click here for ACRYLICS

Note that the oils I use are water-mixable. If you prefer traditional oils, just replace the Artisan water-mixable paints with standard oils in whichever brand you like (but take care about getting a good Alizarin Crimson and at least one yellow that doesn't contain white). I'm guessing that a lot of us are working from home during The Year of COVID and would prefer not to have solvent fumes in our houses.

If you're just interested in color mixing, the above list is all you will need. However, if you would like to paint your own version of the Ridiculously Simple Landscape, you will want these cheap, crappy -- uh, I mean affordable and great for natural grass textures -- chip brushes. Available at hardware stores everywhere, but if you want to order a nice little set, they're here:

Chip brushes at Cheap Joe's Art Stuff