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It goes without saying that making art is not a creative process that only goes one way. No matter what cleaned-up biographies or histories I've read about great American painters or Old Masters, I know that there is no neat and straightforward path where logic rules when it comes to art. In fact...
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The Norwegian Artist and I walk 3-5 miles every day, broken up in two or three sessions. It gets the dog out, me off the chair in front of the computer, and the Norwegian from behind his oil painting easel. During the break, we propound to one another correct solutions to national, international, and...
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That sounds gross, but in the hands of contemporary painter Alex Kanevsky, it's not. As a classically trained artist, Kanevsky's painting techniques and skills are strong. But the way he chooses to paint--in patches and broad swaths that lend a visual vibration to every inch of canvas--is not...
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While it was a lousy summer for tomatoes, something in the air made the pumpkins and winter squash particularly prolific, and we find ourselves with a workshop full of the stuff. What we are convinced is a flood of trouble may actually be a sea of opportunity. Golden Opportunity by Steve Henderson of...
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Like his father, our Son and Heir likes to bicycle around the countryside, and during the autumn he never returns without panniers full of wild apples, picked from abandoned fruit trees . An abundance of apples or a challenge to face in your art--both are best met with creativity and ingenuity. Afternoon...
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Another slice of my personal humble pie is the fact that I'm pretty bad at math in general and downright horrible at geometry in particular. You'd never ever find me trying to use these skills when making art--or so I thought. But when I was gleaning tips from watercolor artist Law Wai Hin on...
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Never mind that "the frenzies" is not technically a real medical condition. What I mean is that during the holidays, I feel like we can all get a bit frenzied. There are parties to attend and host, events to go to, cards to send, gifts to wrap, and friends and family to visit. Right now I have...
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Our youngest daughter, Tired of Being Youngest, recently started culinary school, which means that we're eating a lot better these days. It's not so much that she's doing a lot of experimenting on us -- most nights she's home late and doing book homework -- but on weekends she creates...
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Ever wondered where Da Vinci found the time to create all his masterpieces? Alongside his fine art painting he managed to dabble as a scientist, geologist, architect, mathematician, engineer, and anatomist with a bit of aeronautical design thrown in for good measure! So how can we adopt a little bit...
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I respect Steve Wilda's approach to still life painting because he depicts objects that most people would pass by. Torn lace tablecloths, broken mugs, rusted out pots—the items that Wilda depicts aren't refined, yet the still life paintings he creates have a rough-and-tumble beauty about...
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Around this time of year we are inundated with wintry scenes and beautiful snowy landscapes--on greeting cards, products, advertisements, calendars and more. But these winter landscapes aren't necessarily all created equal, and the same goes for the fine art paintings of the same subject. One of...
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You’re in a beautiful plein air painting location, you whip out your camera and take photograph after photograph – it's essential to have lots of references for landscape painting, you know. Then you dig out your sketchbook, pencils, and paints and set about covering page after page of...
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A few weeks ago I attended a young artist's solo exhibition. Although he was technically skilled, the subject matter (mostly oil portraits with the models nude or semi-nude) didn't really inspire me. So why am I still thinking about his work--and telling you about it? Well, I keep coming back...
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How does brush sizing work and where do you start? Have you every ordered some new brushes online, feeling pretty confident they'll be the perfect size for your latest oil on canvas creation? After all you spent all afternoon researching them. Only to then be bitterly disappointed when the painting...
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That was my first thought when I started to explore acrylic painting. The paints would dry so fast and it drove me crazy because I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Looking back, I realize how many acrylic painting techniques I still had to learn. But I don't regret trying acrylic paints...