Starting with a basic, limited palette, this blog post walks you through my simple tips for creating harmony in your paintings and ends with a video showing how I use paint to create the effect of golden glows, basic skin tones, greens in nature, and sky colours.
Read MoreFinding the Value of your Colour
One of the most "valuable" parts of the painting process is learning to find the right value of each colour you want to paint. In almost every painting I make, I'm working on getting my values right and checking them after I'm done with the painting by stepping back and viewing the piece as a whole. No matter whether you work in colour or B&W, watercolour or oil; values are where it's at!
Read MoreArranging a Still Life Painting
Creating an effective still life requires three main elements of planning. If you’d like to learn more about my process and see a few photo examples from my sketchbook and scenes I played with before deciding on the one I wanted to paint, this is the blog post for you :)
Read MorePalette Knife vs. Brush for Colour Mixing
Colour mixing is one of the most challenging aspects of painting, and using a brush to mix your paints can decrease its life and cause issues with drying out during long painting sessions or when using acrylic paint. Read on to find out why I prefer to use a palette knife to make my colour mixes as I work.
Read MoreCustom Printing on Canvas for Fine Artists!
Nothing is ever going to be as good as the original, but I've just discovered a new resource for printing paintings on canvas that gives me the all options I need at the quality I've been looking for. Tall, skinny print needed? Want to customize the finish or detail it with some text? Check out this blog post for more…
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Time-Lapse Video: Sweet Tea
Time-lapse video and details about my planning process for "Sweet Tea", acrylic.
Read MoreTime-lapse Video: Tea Cup with Roses
Watch a time-lapse video of the creation of the painting, "A Cup of Comfort". Feb 2018
Read MoreHow to Prep a Canvas with Light Molding Paste
This is a short tutorial video showing how I add Golden Acrylic Medium Light Molding Paste to my canvas before painting. Leaving it to dry overnight after I apply it, once it's done I paint on my gesso (I prefer a combination of Liquitex Clear Gesso for its wonderful tooth, and Golden Fluid Acrylic in the color of my choice to tint the support).
Read MoreA Glossary of Art Terms (of sorts)
After a while, artists start throwing terms around and forget that folks may not know what those terms mean. Well, here is a small start to a list of some of the terms I use regularly. I hope this helps a bit - and let me know if you have any others to add to the list!
Read MoreChoosing your Color Palette
Choosing a color palette for you painting can be as simple as first playing with color in a sketchbook!
Read MoreHow to Take Photos of your Work
If you're looking to save money, here are some tips to shooting your own photos of your artwork:
Read MoreHow to Clean your Brushes
Proper brush care is important, as those brushes are not cheap and keeping them in good condition is the best way to make them last. This video shows how I do it in my studio after each session.
Read MoreCanvas Prints at Costco? Amazing!
Can you believe this quality? I uploaded my high resolution photographs (I usually shoot my own paintings with a digital SDLR camera that I purchased at Costco five years ago) and for less than the cost of an 8x10-inch print at their competitor's website, I got an amazing 30x20-inch canvas print!
Read MoreValues Study in Transparent Media
Follow along as I show you a demo using transparent media to create a value study in darks and lights. Transparent media is worked light to dark, with your darkest values going in last. Opaque media usually starts with the dark values, ending up with thick light values at the end.
Read MoreA Proposal of Epic Proportions
One of my very favourite artists, Michele Usibelli, recently did paid me a great compliment when she recommended me to a client for a commission that she was unable to work into her schedule. The client, Kevin, wanted to propose to his girlfriend at the Seattle Art Museum (within a month or so) and he wanted to have it set up as a "Special Event" that would feature a painting of him proposing to his girlfriend in the space where the painting was sitting. Read on for more...
Read MoreTexture: Tactile or Visual
There are many different ways to add texture to your work. You can add it with your support choice, as a process on the base layer, throughout the process, or during the final steps.
Here are a few examples of how you can create texture before, and during the process. At the end of these samples, you'll see how you can add some texture to the final stage.
Read MoreColor Mixing: A Primer
There are more than one way to mix your paints. Most of us just mix the two or more colors together on a palette, then apply it to the surface we're painting on and call it a day. But really, there are many different ways to mix your colors. Here are a few of the main ones:
Read MoreDemo: Adding warms/cools AFTER the fact...
Color temperature was always confusing to me. I didn't "see" it - when an instructor would say, "do you see those warm yellows there, and the blue in that shadow there", I was honestly lost! I didn't see those colours! It took years of training (and I'm always learning and growing as an artist so the training continues) to teach my brain to see the way an artist sees. This is something you CAN learn :)
Here is a very simplistic example of how you can work on a piece, ignoring temperature at the start - and then add it after the fact.
Read More"Warming" up Color Temperature in a Painting
If, after painting a piece, you decide you wish it felt "warmer" - you can always glaze over it after it dries. This is possible with acrylic and oil paintings, but a little tougher to do on watercolors (though not impossible, just use a light hand and make sure you don't go over thick, granulated areas of paint).
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Read MoreWhat Should I Do With The Background?
When painting from photos or from life, you are the one who gets to decide what stays and what goes in your work. If you have a photo of a scene you'd like to capture on canvas, but feel that the background is too distracting - replace it with another background or edit the existing background to work better. Just make sure that it's contextually relevant and that it doesn't detract attention away from your main subject. Read more to find out some options on how to do that...a
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