Although I am known for using vibrant colors to create what appear to be playful, spontaneous images in my watercolor paintings, the key to the success of these paintings is the value structure of the compositions. Here’s how I teach others to use studies to plan effective compositions.

In the new atelier she opened in Rome, Andrea J. Smith teaches students to use a limited palette of colors when painting exactly what they see from a measured distance away from the subject and the easel.

This Texas oil painter shatters multiple myths—including the notion that artists are myopic and single-minded. Qiang Huang helps workshop participants learn how to draw, paint, and sell their artwork using modern technology and traditional painting methods.

The bones of the skull offer enough information on a person's facial structure that it is possible for forensic artists and scientists to reconstruct the accurate surface appearance of an individual's face. For this reason, it is essential to understand the large bony masses of the skull and how they relate to the proportions of the individual model.

Understanding the way in which the muscles of the mouth express the emotion of your subject is crucial in understanding how to capture that emotion on your paper. In this article I will touch upon the basic shape, form concepts, and muscular structure of the mouth and lips so that you can have these concepts and loose guide­lines in mind when you go to draw from a live model.