Please join me every other month in 2024 for a new live online class! Color theory can be complex and confusing. It's more that simply mixing colors. Color theory is the study of how colors work together and how they affect our emotions and perceptions. Understanding color theory enables you to choose the right colors for your work, making it a fundamental aspect of painting. While color theory is complex, understanding a few key elements can make you color confident. Practical Color for Painters provides you with the essential color knowledge you need minus the overwhelming complexity. Don't let confusion... Read more →

As you know, we're in the midst of a 4-part series on some of my favorite art supplies, divided by discipline: Art Supplies for Painters Art Supplies for Printmakers Art Supplies for Art Journalers Art Supplies for Collage Artists Today we've made it to #3: art journaling supplies! I've put together a video with all the details about why I like and use these particular supplies: And here's the list of goodies from the video: Listo China Markers Neocolor I Crayons Neocolor Sharpener Posca Pens SoFlat Acrylic Paint Ranger Heat It Craft Tool Grey Matters Palette Paper Scotch Blue Painter's... Read more →

Hello! I've put together a 4-part series on some of my favorite art supplies, divided by discipline: Art Supplies for Painters Art Supplies for Printmakers Art Supplies for Art Journalers Art Supplies for Collage Artists Obviously, there's some overlap in there, but I hope you'll find it useful. Today I'm sharing items from the first list -- my favorite art supplies to use when I'm painting! Golden Acrylic Paints will always be my #1 pick for acrylic paint. They're incredibly versatile with lots of different choices in viscosity. For paintings, I primarily use: Golden Fluid Acrylics Golden Heavy Body Acrylics... Read more →

One of the skills I've developed over the years is figuring out how to fix my mistakes...because I make a lot of mistakes. In fact, as you've probably heard me say many many time, there are no mistakes, simply creative opportunities. In this video, I show you how I create a creative opportunity for myself! Members can watch the real time version of this video in the online classroom. And here is the finished piece from the video: You can grab this piece in my online shop. The holidays are coming and original one-of-a-kind art makes a great gift! Thanks... Read more →

During yesterday's Book Club, we tackled Beginner's Guide to Abstract Art by Laura Reiter. The short version of the video is: I share my impressions, highlighting the book's shallow but useful content, the absence of detailed instructions, and its value for adventurous beginners. You can watch the replay below: Here are some of the things I shared during Book Club: And here are some takeaways for you from the video: Keep a Notebook: Maintaining a notebook of some kind is crucial for artists to capture and process ideas, thoughts, and inspirations. Use your notebook to document what you see, think,... Read more →

I just finished a new painting and I've been turning it all around. I can't quite decide which is my favorite orientation. Personally, I'm stuck between two choices, but I thought I'd show you all four. Let me know in the blog comments which is your favorite and why! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Artists, like me, have long loved Golden's Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold for several reasons: Vibrancy: Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold is known for its vibrant and intense hue. It has a rich warm tone that can add a brilliant pop of color to artwork. Transparency: It can be layered over other colors or used as a glaze to create luminous effects and depth in paintings. I love that it doesn't cover up what's underneath, but instead seems to highlight it. Mixing Properties: Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold is particularly useful for mixing various shades of oranges, browns, and earthy tones. It's a... Read more →

I'm working on some new artwork in the studio this week. It's very much WIP - work in progress. Watch the video for more: As you can see from the video, I'm currently working through the final stages of a couple of mixed media pieces -- doing my best to figure out how to push them to the finished stage. I'm using my knowledge of the Elements and Principles of Art to guide my choices. You can learn more about how to use the Elements and Principles of Art in your artistic practice in Design Boot Camp. Registration is now... Read more →

This post was originally published on June 24, 2019. I have updated the post with some additional thoughts. My artwork rarely ends up where I thought it might. It's usually more of a wandering process than a marching one. Let me show you what I'm talking about: I started a painting and I thought it might be an abstract piece. This is how it started: I didn't love it, so I cut it in half (one of the benefits of working on paper): Then I decided to add some collage in order to break up some of the rigidity of... Read more →

I started a very simple project yesterday and made it very very very complicated by the end. Alas! Watch the video for more: Ironically, I set out to make a very simple video, but it also ended up getting very complicated! Some days are like that. Here are a few useful facts for you to take away from the video: You can read about the ten new colors Golden added to its Heavy Body line in 2018 here. This is the article that mentions the replacement of Hansa Yellow with Benzimidazolone Yellow. This is the 2023 Product Discontinuation list that... Read more →