LAHAINA – The 2015 Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational will offer three workshops taught by plein air oil painters Brian Stewart and Dave Santillanes.

Workshop teachers are selected from the 25 artists participating in the 2015 event. It’s a great opportunity for local and visiting oil painters to take classes from award-winning professional artists.

In the pre-event workshop on Feb. 10-12, Stewart will take the process of outdoor painting and break it down into small, simple, attainable steps.

He believes outdoor painting is just like life: “It’s just a series of corrected mistakes.”

With his gentle guidance, help and time-honored methods, participants will learn to see what is needed to improve their work, adjust painting techniques and improve the final results.

Stewart believes the difference between a beginner and a seasoned pro is the ability to see and improve a work of art. His classes are structured in a building block way with small, incremental steps that create this awareness and vision.

He will share exactly how he builds a painting as well as discuss all aspects of the art-life: equipment, travel, marketing, shows, galleries, clubs, the Internet and the emotional roller-coaster ride of being an artist.

Stewart is a signature member of the granddaddy of all plein air groups: the exclusive Plein Air Painters of America. He’s also a member of the California Art Club, Oil Painters of America and the American Society of Marine Artists.

There will be a meet and greet gathering for Stewart and his students on the evening of Feb. 9.

Two post-event workshops will be taught by Santillanes. In his three-day plein air workshop called “Capturing the Atmosphere,” artists will learn how to simplify a landscape and interpret color relationships to quickly complete a painting in the field.

Dates for this workshop are Feb. 23-25. On Feb. 26-27, he will teach a two-day “Plein Air to Studio” workshop. In this studio class, artists will learn to analyze the information they have gathered in the field and develop a larger scale landscape painting of their own in a studio setting.

Santillanes, from Fort Collins, Colorado, won the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 invitational. He’s been winning awards for his stunning plein air paintings for the last 15 years and has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine and Plein Air Magazine numerous times.

He said, “As my painting style continues to evolve, my goal with each piece is not a literal rendering of the scene. Instead, it is to capture and convey its essence.”

There will be a meet and greet gathering for his classes on the evening of Feb. 22.

A portion of the funds generated from the workshops and the sale of paintings during the invitational goes to the nonprofit West Maui Cultural Council (WMCC), a 501(c)(3) located here in Lahaina.

WMCC encourages youths to preserve and promote Hawaiian culture through art. Each year, WMCC awards scholarships and provides art supplies to two high school seniors to attend one of the workshops. Scholarship recipients have the opportunity to learn first-hand from professional artists about painting techniques and career management.

Space in each workshop is limited to 12 students. For more information, or to register for the workshops, visit www.MauiPleinAirPainting.org or call Ann Pistillo at (808) 214-9973. Cost for three-day workshop is $395; the cost for the two-day workshop is $295.