Tom McGregor — Paintings Photographed by Mitch Rossow

Plein Air Painter, Instructor

Tom McGregor paints with a prismatic color palette, a theory with roots in late 19th century French art. The prismatic palette consists of very intense, clean colors — and the lineage behind it is specific: McGregor learned it from Joe Paquet, who studied under John Phillip Osborne at the Ridgewood Institute. Osborne learned it from Arthur Maynard, who was trained by the renowned Frank Vincent Dumond of the Art Students League of New York.

Tom graduated from Minnesota State University, Moorhead in 1987 with a BFA in art, and discovered plein air painting in 2007. His painting style is described as “a form of realism with an affinity for the abstractions within nature.”

Tom had a solo exhibition at Grand Hill Gallery in January 2019.

The prismatic palette depends on color purity — which means the photograph has to get the color right, or the painting loses its whole point. Schedule your own session →