Color is what makes a painting stand out to me. Sometimes I’m drawn to bold color - color that vibrantly describes the elements in the composition. Other times I am fascinated by the muted palette of a quieter scene.. . . read more
As with any drawing, the beginning of a painting is the most important step. Successful starts lead to good finishes. In the next few paragraphs I’ll explain what I do to start a painting off on the right foot.. . . read more
In today’s video, Robbie Laird demonstrates how to achieve repetitive line and texture in a watercolor painting, using just a few easy-to-find scraping tools. As you’ll see. . . read more
Monday in Video Tutorials - Tomorrow, watercolor painter Robbie Laird will be demonstrating a few different “scraping” techniques for artists who want to add more texture to their paintings - no special tools required. . . read more
Like any other art process, figure drawing is a fluid activity and impossible to pin down with exact rules—but if your goal is to create a more convincing life drawing, then these next few ideas will certainly help.. . . read more
SEO is overrated! At least, that’s what I used to think, until I saw with my own eyes how I sold some of my art because of search engine optimization. Here is one example of how SEO worked for me. . . read more
When it comes to technique, Brian Cody is primarily a traditional watercolor artist. His subject matter and quirky compositions, however, take him a little farther off the beaten path.. . . read more
In today’s article I’ll explain how to set up your Twitter account, how to automate your blog posts to show up in your Twitter stream, and how to place your Twitter stream on the sidebar of your art blog.. . . read more
Most paintings (especially portraits and figurative paintings) benefit from a good preliminary drawing in charcoal or graphite. Today we’d like to show you how to create a different type of drawing using the "rub-out" method.. . . read more
Monday in Video Tutorials - Tomorrow, Pat Weaver will be demonstrating how to create a preliminary watercolor sketch by rubbing paint off of the painting surface rather than drawing or painting it onto the surface. Not only is this a fun variation on traditional sketching, it’s also a. . . read more
Occasionally a painting needs something MORE to take it to the next level. The composition is ideal, the values are correct, yet the finished artwork just doesn’t sing. Often, this has to do with color intensity. . . read more