There’s no clear line between “beginner” and “intermediate.” But there are a few “next level” things painters with more than, say, a dozen or so canvases under their belt can look for to get better. [...]

One of the great things about art is that it brings people together.  Imagine our distant, hunter-gatherer ancestors, how they crowded into a low-ceilinged cave by candlelight to watch, as the flickering light made images [...]

The creative adult is the child who survived.” — ​​Ursula Le Guin As children, we know magic is real, the world is marvelous, and simply living each day is an adventure.  But those of us [...]

Inspiration comes in many forms, and creativity is its currency. But where does creativity come from, and what even is it? It’s thought that childhood play and adult creativity originate in similar processes in the [...]

Johannes Vermeer’s The Art of Painting (c.1668) invites us to see in his work much more than consummate skill and flawless technique for capturing diffuse light from an unseen window (though … THERE’S THAT!). The more one looks, [...]

“Steal like an artist.”  That’s the title of a popular self-empowerment book for artists and a phrase on lots of peoples’ lips these days. It’s a variation on “Good artists borrow, great artists steal!” which [...]

It’s good for any artist, beginner, experienced, realist or otherwise, to have a sense of the inspiring stories of men and women who believed in themselves enough to place painting at the center of their [...]

Artist and gallerist Abigail McBride will be judging September’s entries in the PleinAir Salon monthly art competition. Abigail directs McBride Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland. Because Annapolis is on the small side as far as towns [...]

Imposter Syndrome: the feeling that you're a total fraud and it's just a matter of time before you're found out. That dismissive voice in your head that says whoever is praising your work either doesn't [...]

Who couldn’t use a friend right about now, someone hopeful, free, and alive?  Embedded in art is a call not only to self-discovery, as is often said, but a call to self-reinvention. Art isn’t something [...]