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It feels right to talk about color and art during this time of the year, when flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and skies are (mostly) blue. After months of dull-colored scenery, everything seems to be flourishing wherever I look, which makes me want to do whatever I can to capture that beauty...
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When I walk through a museum or gallery, there are certain paintings that I breeze past and others that always draw me in. Self-portraits definitely fall into the latter category. I’m always intrigued by how artists choose to represent themselves and perpetuate their own personal mythologies. My...
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The Oil Paintings of Margaret Bowland I was first introduced to the paintings of Margaret Bowland in 2009, when one of her portrait paintings won the People's Choice Award in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, DC. I was uncomfortable...
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Have you ever noticed when you are plein air painting how the colors of objects look so radically different in the very low light just before dawn or twilight? Take a red rose, for instance. We know that the flower's petals are bright red against the green of the leaves in daylight. But, take a look...
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When I paint figures the work seems to matter more--I find that I'm more focused on the process than when I am just drawing fancifully from my head or creating a still life. And by "matter" I mean that the intensity is ratcheted up just a bit and I just feel really invested in what I am...
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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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My dad is a little manic about asking our family to get our holiday wish lists to him waaaaaaay before he has to fight the crowds and wait in long lines. As usual, I'm procrastinating, but if I were to give him my art wish list, I could have it ready and waiting for him at a moment's notice....
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I am writing this as things have never looked better for me financially, as an artist. I have had a few huge sales and wildly successful shows over the years, but I feel as if I have tapped into a new realm of possibilities in recent months. And this in a time of financial hardship for many across the...
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Yes, you read that right! I've heard of extreme sports and extreme makeovers, but extreme outdoor painting ? This is a first for me. But when plein air artist Cory Trepanier told me that he had made a trek to paint the far reaches of the Canadian Arctic--a land of icebergs and permafrost and tundra...
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I am rolling my eyes with embarrassment when I tell you that when I first saw watercolor paintings with wide expanses of color I assumed that these were applied and then wiped out and smoothed over after they were laid down. I had no idea that there were watercolor painting techniques that you could...
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The winners of our Self-Portrait Cover Competition are featured in the September issue of American Artist, and they share advice about how to paint the figure and how to maintain a successful painting practice. When we asked David Tanner, the winner of the competition, to give his advice, he offered...
Posted to
The Oil Painting Blog
by
Austin R. Williams
on
12 Jul 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: color, oil painting, plein air, still life, landscape painting, portrait painting, how to paint, Figure Drawing, Drawing Basics, Photo Reference, Art, Artist Daily
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I've always wondered how an artist decides how to paint the background of an artwork. Did Sargent--who painted everything, even air, with volume and texture--employ certain painting techniques for this section of his works? Are there actual painting art philosophies on backgrounds? Well, I haven't...
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When I discovered grisaille oil painting I thought I'd gone to heaven. Learning how to oil paint is a lot of fun, but it is also just a lot . There is so much to deal with--getting your forms right, steering toward an interesting composition, brushwork, and color. I could focus on the first two but...
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What was that beautiful work I saw at the Met? Which room was Sargent's portrait painting , Madame X , in? I loved that Renoir but didn't have time to go back and spend a little more time with that work and that work alone. How do I answer these questions? Simply, Google Art Project. Google Art...
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I'm not blessed at this point in my life to have children, but if I did you can bet I'd be one of those mothers who want portrait paintings of her children at every stage of their lives. Even better, I could learn how to paint children like artist Brian Neher does--capturing the childlike sweetness...