Rocks are hard.  That’s a fact. But painting them gets easier with a few basic principles in mind. Number one pitfall to avoid: making your rocks look like potato sacks. Okay, but how? The following [...]

“Having your head in the clouds, even for just a few minutes each day, is good for your mind, good for your body, and good for your soul.” – Gavin Pretor-Pinney “Paintings of clouds are [...]

We conclude with the final installment of “mountain tips” from three professional painters: Kathryn Stats, Tim Diebler, and this time, Paul Kratter. (View Diebler on brushwork here) and Stats on Color, here. There’s one more [...]

In honor of the many plein air painters traversing mountain-laden landscapes this summer, we continue with the second installment of “mountain tips” from three professional painters: Kathryn Stats, Tim Diebler, and next time, Paul Kratter [...]

Last weekwe took a close look at a few landscapes by John Singer Sargent, but we didn’t get THIS close!  In fact, most ordinary mortals will never get this close to a painting by John [...]

At this time of year, plein air painters can be found crisscrossing the American landscape, portable easels, sun umbrellas, and paper towels in tow. Whether they know it or not, many are after what psychologist [...]

Mary Magdalene in art constitutes a fascinating and revealing subject of study as the iconography and the meaning of her image revolve and change over time. A new exhibition on Mary Magdalene in art is showing [...]

“It looks flat” is something you hear sometimes during a critique, but what exactly does that mean? I think there are two main criticisms wrapped up in “flatness.” One has to do with depth (how [...]

Precision. Design. Mastery of light and color. These are the qualities you notice right away in the watercolors of Richard Russell Sneary.  Richard Sneary was born in Baltimore, raised in Kansas City, and educated at the University of Kansas. Sneary has been [...]

Claude Monet loved to paint the sea, and a quick study of some his best as well as some lesser-known paintings of the ocean can teach practicing artists sound fundamental skills when diving into a [...]