Welcome to the miscellaneous section of EmptyEasel!

 Here's where you'll find everything from opinion articles to artist polls and site announcements.

Find all miscellaneous art articles below:

Painting of a courtyard surrounded by foliage and flowers
I am a recent orphan from Vango gallery, which went out of business last year. The only website I had was through Vango. . . I was with them for two years, and sold several paintings through their platform (including the three in this post). I’m glad I sent my contact information on a thank-you card when I shipped those paintings, in case the buyers...
When I first started thinking about becoming a professional artist (and by “professional,” I mean an artist who creates art to earn a living) doing cloud portraits most certainly was NOT what I was considering. Horses were my passion and horse portraits were my goal. My big dream was making a good living from portrait work, and being able to travel the country (yes, even...
If you’ve thought of writing a book someday (or already have), you’re in good company. Statistically, 80% of the population believe they have a book inside...
Located in the heart of Michigan, Saint Johns is home to Ivan Iler, an artist with a very unique set of skills. Whether it be sculpting, carving, painting or working on motorcycles, Ivan shows craftsmanship and passion in all of his many trades—yet his pride and joy is metal sculpting. Ivan’s metal sculptures can take the form of almost anything, ranging from animals, people, plantlife...
Every now and again I like to check the list of search engine terms and phrases that brought readers to my blog. Given that my focus is teaching colored pencil, you’d expect the usual things such as “blending colored pencils,” “drawing with colored pencil,” and so on. And generally, those ARE the kind of searches I see. However, one slightly more unusual search term has...
Some time ago, I wrote a demonstration series describing how I use the Flemish method of oil painting in my own work. The Flemish method was developed by Flemish painters in the 1600s and involves developing a painting through a series of stages from a detailed drawing up to a finished work of art. It’s also known as the Seven Step Method because it can...
A short while back I wrote an article for EmptyEasel about art school, and how to decide if it’s right for you. I wrote that article because most young people—and many who are no longer quite so young—believe they must attend art school if they’re going to be a successful artist. And yet, if you really want to make a living creating art, I believe...
Every year around December, business people of all types are busy evaluating the success of the past year’s goals and thinking about goals for the next year. Many of them are pondering their five- and ten-year plans and some even consider long-term goals of fifteen years or more. My question is, are those kinds of activities relevant only to business people? Or would creative people...