Time for a little bit of light-heartedness and a list. (I love these kinds of list articles. Once I get started, they just seem to go...
Art Opinion Articles and insight for the 21st century artist
Get creative tips, insight, art advice, and opinion from your peers.
Artists from all over the world have written in to share their thoughts on art, beauty, and living your best artist life. You might not agree with everything you read, but that's OK—it'll be sure to make you think!
Read all our art opinion articles below:
The high-end art sector is currently booming with surging numbers of sales and record-breaking purchases. 2018 saw global art sales top $67 billion, an increase of...
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...
I’ve heard opinions about “natural artistic talent” more than once recently. Usually it’s people saying that natural talent is a myth; that it doesn’t exist at...
Are you looking for a new art medium? Maybe you’ve been considering colored pencils, but need a few reasons to really give them a shot. ....
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...
I recently performed a solo at church. It wasn’t the first time for a solo, but it was different this time. In times past, the bulletin...
Making art may be “just a hobby” for a lot of people, but not for artists—even part-time artists. Sure, making art is different than the daily...
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...
When I first started dabbling with colored pencils, I’d already been oil painting for many years. I didn’t want a replacement medium, I just wanted a...
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...
Several weeks ago I suggested a few questions artists should ask themselves if they’re trying to decide whether or not gallery representation is for them. Basically, it came down to knowing why you create art and what you hope to accomplish with it. Since then I’ve had a few more thoughts that I’d like to share: On paying gallery fees. . . As a former...
No matter what medium you use, I believe every artist can benefit from practicing 4 specific skills. What are these skills? I’m glad you asked! Here...
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...
Should artists give away their time and talent? Unfortunately in this case, there’ isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. Certainly there will always be charitable organizations and other groups and individuals more than happy to use contributed artwork for fundraising purposes. So the opportunity is always there, and it’s a question that comes up quite often. Some time ago, I wrote an article sharing two questions every...
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...
I don’t think I really understood that people could make a living in the arts until I was well into my grad studies. I don’t know...
One of the most challenging aspects of being an artist is finding the time, space and peace you need to conjure your creativity and produce your art. Even if you have designated studio space in your home, it can be tough to devote 100% of your focus to your work when real-life responsibilities and distractions lie just on the other side of the door. Sometimes...
So much is different today, for artists. Technology (of course) is responsible for a lot of these changes, but I think it’s safe to say that...
Like most things in life, art is a journey. Whether we take that journey at our leisure as a hobby artist or we make the journey...
This is what happens if you’re a man. . . You decide you want to do a bit of open air painting or drawing, so you get up, throw on your old work clothes, gather together your painting kit and off you go. Whether it’s the town or country, you find yourself a good spot, get settled in, and get on with it. And while...