Art is Hard!
“A happy life is not a life without struggle – it’s a life with meaningful struggle.” That’s the opinion of author Mark Manson. “Doing hard things,” he says, “is a habit that must be practiced [...]
The Miraculous in the Everyday
How many people have walked up and down these old stone steps? What sort of lives have navigated this narrow, sunlit passage? A young woman hastening to meet a lover? An old man with a [...]
The Reluctant Master
It’s no surprise that artist Karen Knutson is a member and signature member of a half dozen watercolor societies. What then is surprising is how she first felt about the medium. “I didn’t even like watercolor,” [...]
Plein Air Convention Draws Over a Thousand Artists
Over 1,000 artists gathered for five days of plein air inspiration, instruction, and immersive painting experiences during last week’s Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE), the world's largest annual gathering of outdoor painters. Hosted by PleinAir™ [...]
The Benefits of Value Studies – What is Notan?
When it comes to creating compelling and dynamic artwork, understanding the interplay of light and shadow is essential. One powerful technique that artists across all mediums can use to elevate their compositions is the Notan [...]
Thinking Big Part 2
Painters Kyle Buckland and Mark Fehlman have very different styles and both create impactful paintings. Not coincidentally, they both place design and composition firmly at the center of their painting and teaching practices. “Successful designs [...]
Living in Two Worlds at Once
“Art does not reproduce the visible, rather, it makes visible.” - Paul Klee Art and artists live in two worlds, a visible one and an invisible one. Art makes invisible visible. When an imaginative artist [...]
Thinking Big
Have you been dogged by a nagging feeling that something’s wrong with a painting you’re working on? Not just “off” or “not great” but something fundamentally, foundationally wrong? Very often, your problem isn’t the drawing [...]
The Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
The tale of Orpheus and Eurydice ranks among the most often depicted Greek myths in Western art. It’s the ultimate tragic love story, but perhaps the Orpheus and Eurydice myth appeals to the artistic imagination [...]
Portrait of an Artist
New York art critic Jerry Saltz recently posted on social media a typically on-target take on some extraordinary paintings he found himself standing in front of. Saltz says and writes lots of things about the [...]